Mass Effect: Freelancers
by Fatal Intestinal Maelstrom
Summary: A down-on-her-luck quarian on her Pilgrimage becomes desperate enough to sell herself into indentured servitude and is taken aboard the MSV Sulaco.
1. Chapter 1

"Lia'Vael nar Ulnay?"

Lia turned around-too quickly, and the room seemed to spin around her. She slumped against the wall to hold herself upright, and crossed her trembling arms over her chest, hoping she looked casual instead of sick as a rabid varren.

She found herself staring at another quarian. An oddly-dressed one, though; over her standard protective suit she wore a long black coat that reached her ankles, a wide-brimmed hat perched on top of her helmet, and boots-all of which appeared to be human-designed, though the boots were obviously modified to fit quarian legs.

_Lovely. Must be delirium. I'm starting to see shit that isn't there._ Though, she had to admit, wearing a long coat meant one would have more pockets to hold salvaged gear, as well as more places to conceal weapons. And the boots might be a good idea, too. An extra layer of protection could never hurt.

"Um, yeah, that's me." She tried to clear her throat. Moving slowly and cautiously, she pushed off from the wall and tried to stand up straight. "You're the one who bought my contract?"

"No, but I kind of work for them. You'll see once we're aboard our ship." The strangely-clad quarian stepped forward, placed a hand on Lia's shoulder, and looked her over slowly. "I'm Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco."

Lia had heard that name before, around the time she'd ended up stuck on the Citadel. She drew in a breath-and it turned into a rattling cough. _No, no, no, damn it! If her employer sees how sick I am, he'll cancel the sale and I'll be stranded here!_ She forced herself to continue talking. "You mean, nar Idenna, right? You started your Pilgrimage a few months ago."

"Yeah, that's me." Chula shrugged. "My Pilgrimage didn't go as well as I planned. Still haven't found anything worth taking back home, but recently I might've at least found a lead. So technically I'm still nar Idenna, but since I'm now crew of the MSV _Sulaco_ and it looks like that won't change for a fairly long time ... eh, it seemed right." She placed an arm around Lia's shoulders. "You don't sound well. Was your suit breached?"

"No, nothing like that. It's ... it's a result of how I got to Illium from the Citadel."

"Ah. Well, don't worry, the _Sulaco_ has a clean room and all the antibiotics and medications needed for treating quarian illnesses."

"That's a relief."

"Do you have anything you want brought onboard? Tools, supplies, whatnot?"

"No, nothing." Lia held her hands up and let them drop. "I literally have nothing except my suit."

"Okay. Shall we go, then?"

"Lead the way." Lia held back another coughing fit and followed Chula out of the departure area and across a parking lot filled with rapid transit cars.

"So, how did you get sick, if you don't mind my asking?"

_Damn._ "Well ... I'd been stranded at the Citadel for _months_. Had no money, no chances of finding work ... no _hope_. Nobody was willing to hire a quarian for anything. Wherever I went, people looked at me like my mere existence offended them. And C-Sec wouldn't stop harassing me. I was living in a turian shelter and finally realized that I'd never get out of there unless I tried something drastic."

"I know how that feels." Chula patted Lia's shoulder again. "Was that why you decided to sell yourself into indentured servitude?"

"Yes," Lia muttered. "As humiliating as it is, I just didn't see any other way out. I figured this would at least get me away from the Citadel and give me a chance to regain control over my life. Eventually."

Chula stopped at one of the cars and opened the door for Lia. "What happened then?"

"Same thing that always happened there-no one wanted me on their ship. I offered my services as an engineer in exchange for passage to Illium. No pay, just a lift." Lia almost fell into the passenger seat, grateful for a chance to take her weight off her wobbly legs. "Couldn't get anywhere. Just because I'm a quarian, everybody else acted like I was diseased or planning to rob them or some damned thing."

Chula sat at the controls and started the engine. She eased the car into the air and said, "I've been there, myself. Though things do seem worse now than they were a few years ago."

"Yeah. Anyway, I finally ran into someone who was willing to give me a lift. But ... not in exchange for my engineering skills. His ship was fully staffed." Lia looked away and held in a groan.

"Oh, he _didn't_." Chula glanced at her, faced forward again, and shook her head. "He wanted you to weave his basket?"

"What?"

"Oh, sorry, that's an old human phrase. I'm kind of fascinated by certain aspects of their culture."

"I think I got the gist of it. Yeah, he wanted sex."

"And from your condition, I take it you agreed to his terms?"

"Yeah. That's how desperate I was." Lia leaned back and let her body go limp. "I used all the antibiotics and immuno-boosters I had, but they didn't help much. They kept me alive-barely-but that's all. I feel like _shit_."

Chula shook her head. "I've heard of this kind of thing before-sexual favors in exchange for passage to another planet. But this was _low_-knowingly endangering your health."

"Yeah. Well, it's just another example of how much respect quarians get outside the Flotilla."

"I hope the son of a bitch is satisfied."

"I think he was. I really threw myself into it." Lia almost chuckled, but stopped herself to avoid another rattling coughing fit. "I fucked him silly. To use a human phrase I _am_ familiar with, I banged him like a screen door in a hurricane."

Chula burst out laughing. "Seriously?"

"Purely out of spite. I figured, if this was what my life had come to, I was going to give it one hundred percent." Lia closed her eyes as a wave of nausea hit her. "I wanted to give him the best lay he'd ever had. That way, if I died from an infection, he'd know it was his fault, and maybe he'd actually regret it." She shrugged. "Hell, I don't know, maybe I was already delirious, but it made sense at the time."

"Heh. Almost sounds like something I'd do. Almost." Chula shook her head slowly. "Well, don't worry, we'll have you back on your feet in no time."

"Thanks." Lia tried to keep her breathing steady, and let her mind go blank for the next few minutes. Which wasn't difficult, under the circumstances.

"Well, we're here."

Lia blinked and shook her head to clear the fog that had gradually enveloped her mind. Chula opened the door for her and helped her out of the car. Lia tried to walk on her own, but after a half dozen steps, she ended up leaning on Chula for support.

"Damn it." She coughed and couldn't draw another breath for a few seconds. "I haven't even boarded your ship, and already I'm letting my owners down."

"I don't think they'll mind. After all, the reason they bought you in the first place is to help you out of a jam." They reached the airlock and Chula opened it. Once they were sealed inside, the decontamination sequence started. Chula stared at Lia for a long moment, clearly hesitating. "I ... don't really know how to tell you this, but I don't want you to be caught off guard."

"What do you mean?" Lia leaned against the wall and coughed again.

"The owners of this ship are the ones who bought your contract. You'll probably be scared when you see them, but try not to freak out. I still have my suspicions about them, but they saved my life shortly after my Pilgrimage began. They offered me a ship to live and work on, a way to survive and continue my Pilgrimage; I stayed on partly because of that, and partly because I'm keeping an eye on them. So far, they've done nothing but act honorably, which, honestly, is a continuing surprise to me."

"Okay." Lia's heart had begun to pound, and not entirely from her illness. "Why would I freak out when I see them, though? Who are they?"

The decontamination finished and the inner door slid open. Chula sighed.

"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just ... say it." She met Lia's gaze. "They're geth."

#

"They're _what_?" Lia stared back at Chula and trembled.

"Take it easy." Chula put her hand on the girl's shoulder again. "There's only two platforms, and the crew includes a tech specialist and a krogan. If the geth were going to get out of hand, I'm pretty sure it would've happened already, and everyone else would've been more than capable of handling them."

"Okay." Lia flicked her wide, frightened eyes at the open door. "The _geth_ saved your life once?"

Chula nodded and stepped out of the airlock. "My Pilgrimage hit the skids only a couple weeks after I left the Flotilla. I entered the Terminus Systems and batarian pirates blasted the hell out of my ship. It was a beater-an old rustbucket," she clarified when she saw the confused tilt of Lia's head. She continued talking as they walked through the corridor. "There clearly wasn't anything worth taking, but I think the batarians did it just for shits and giggles. I ended up with a hole blown through my left side and my ship adrift and hemorrhaging air. I managed to send a distress call, but I thought I was hosed. And _that_ was before a geth ship dropped into normal space right in front of me."

"Keelah," Lia said softly.

"Pretty much what I thought at the time." They came to a branch in the corridor and she led Lia down the one to the left. "What they told me later was that they were simply looking around and picked up my distress signal. I passed out moments after I saw their ship arrive, probably from sheer terror. I woke up in a clean room on their ship, after they'd operated on my wound. They had quarian food and medical supplies brought straight from Rannoch; from what I can tell, they weren't planning on bringing any of us aboard, but they tried to prepare for any contingency."

"Food ... from _home_," Lia whispered.

"Yeah. The real thing. After eating nutrient paste for so long, it took some getting used to, but it's nice to have some actual food from home. Anyway, by the time I was back on my feet, the geth had bought the _Sulaco_ and placed two of their mobile platforms aboard it, and they asked me if I wanted to be dropped off to continue my Pilgrimage or join them in their travels." She shrugged. "As terrified as I was of them, I figured I owed them for saving my life, and I couldn't help being curious. I wanted to see what they were up to."

"I guess I can think of worse situations to be in. If you'd told them to drop you off somewhere, you would've been stranded-maybe permanently. Still ... living on a ship with _geth _..." Lia shivered.

"Yeah. I definitely had to go through an adjustment period." They arrived at another cross-corridor, and Chula led her to the right.

"What do they want with me?"

"It was my idea. I was skimming the local job nets, looking for a gig for the crew, and saw an ad for IndentuTech. I'd heard of the occasional quarian getting desperate enough to take that path, so I took a look at their client list. And there you were." Chula patted Lia's shoulder again. "When I was wounded and drifting in a crippled ship, I thought I was about to die. After I was rescued, I swore I'd never refuse to help someone in trouble." She grinned. "Besides, it never hurts to have a good engineer."

"Ah. Well." Lia coughed suddenly. "Damn. I have so many more questions, but I guess I should wait until I can breathe without coughing up my lungs."

"We'll be glad to answer any questions you have, but as you said, first things first. The medical bay is down there." Chula pointed at the door at the end of the corridor.

"Good. Do you have an actual doctor onboard?"

"There aren't any other quarians on the _Sulaco_, and medicine is pretty far outside my area of expertise. I'm more of a combat specialist."

"Oh. So ..." Lia turned her head sharply to stare at Chula. "It's the geth, isn't it? I have to let _them_ work on me?"

"I know it's hard to overcome a lifetime of fear; I had to, and honestly, I've still got a long way to go, but they know our physiology and I'm proof that they do good work. Like I said, they'll have you back to one hundred percent in no time." Chula opened the door and led her through. "Here's the captain. Well, one of them."

A dark gray geth platform, only slightly taller than the average quarian, waited beside an examination table at the far end of the med bay, covered in sterilized surgical attire.

"Keelah," Lia muttered.

The geth turned and aimed its single, large, glowing optic at her. It spoke in a mechanical yet not _quite_ emotionless voice.

"Welcome aboard."

#

_This is insane. This is full-throttle insane._ Lia followed the geth through a curved, rotating door at the end of the medical bay, into a sort of mini-airlock. She caught herself holding her breath several times while the decontamination cycle ran, trying not to stare at the geth out of the corner of her eye. She tried to stop shaking, but couldn't.

The inner door slid aside, letting them into the clean room. The geth moved out of her way and pointed at a medical bed off to the right.

"Please remove your suit."

_I should run. Just turn and run like hell._ She took a few uncertain steps into the room. _Oh, screw it. If I don't go through with this, I'll probably die anyway._

She unsealed her visor, took it off, glanced around, and found a workbench on the opposite wall. She placed the visor on it and grimaced at the sight of its interior. All the coughing and sneezing she'd done ...

She took the rest of her protective suit off and piled the pieces on the bench. She shivered as the cool air brushed her bare skin.

From behind her came the sound of an Omni-Tool being activated. Then the geth's voice.

"We are raising the room temperature to a more comfortable level. Please tell us if it is too warm."

Gradually, the chill faded from her body and she stopped shivering. "Um...that's good, right there."

"Noted. We will keep the temperature at this level."

"Um ... thanks."

"You are welcome. Are you ready to proceed?"

_Hell, no._ "Sure, why not get it over with?" She shuffled over to the bed and practically collapsed onto it. The geth slipped its hands under her back to steady her and lowered her gently to the bed.

She glanced at the airlock door and found Chula standing outside. Chula nodded and gave her a thumbs-up.

The geth passed its Omni-Tool over Lia's body and both of its "eyebrow" flaps raised.

_Oh, that's not good. Fortunately, I'm too exhausted to panic._

"We found you just in time," the geth said. "We will begin inoculations immediately."

She managed to nod. She wanted to fall asleep, but doubted she would ever wake up. And she wasn't sure whether to be afraid or hopeful at the thought of all this just being _over_.

A needle pressed against her arm, pushed, and pierced her skin. Her lips quivered and tears trickled down her cheeks.

A lightly stinging, somewhat fiery sensation spread out from the injection point, then the needle withdrew. Lia held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut.

A gloved metal hand slid under hers and held it in a gentle grip. Startled, she looked down at her hand and found it clasped by the geth.

_What the hell?_

"Do not worry." Its voice was quieter, less grating. "You are a member of our crew. Your safety and well-being are our responsibility."

"From what I've seen," Chula said through a speaker on the wall, "they take that very seriously. You're gonna be fine."

"Th ... thanks."

"You have not shown as much fear as some when they see us for the first time," the geth said. "This is not the first time you have encountered us."

"Yeah. When I was stuck on the Citadel, a Spectre helped me out of a jam. There was a quarian and what appeared to be a geth with him." She realized that the tightness in her chest was easing up, and the hot-lava sensation that had been in her throat for so long was gradually fading. Her breaths were coming more easily as the seconds passed. "I thought it was a personal synthetic assistant that was just made to look like a geth, but now I'm starting to think it was the real thing."

"It was. That platform became a member of Shepard-Commander's crew. It assisted him and Creator-Tali'Zorah in hunting down and stopping the Collectors. The platform was designated Legion."

"It really was a geth. I'll be damned." The mere fact that it hadn't attacked her on sight flew in the face of everything she had been raised to believe. "Do, uh ... do you have a designation?"

"This platform is called Weyland. The other platform onboard this ship is designated Yutani. They were named by one of the crew. Please turn on your side."

"Huh?"

"When the congestion in your chest begins to loosen, you should be on your side to prevent choking."

"Oh. Right." She tried to roll over, but it took too much effort.

The geth-Weyland, she reminded herself-walked around behind her and helped her turn over. It lifted her head and something soft slid under her. A pillow, she realized.

"Thanks," she mumbled. She tried to open her eyes, but couldn't. _Shit, I'm starting to pass out. Eh, whatever._ "How ... many geth programs ... are in your platform?"

"Two thousand, five hundred seven in this one, and two thousand, nine hundred thirteen in Yutani."

"Ah. Well ... nice ... nice to meet you ... uh, guys."

"We are glad to have you on our crew."

_Huh. I do believe this qualifies as the weirdest conversation I've ever had._

She had so many more questions, but awareness was already slipping away. She figured that she _should_ be starting to panic, but instead she found herself relaxing for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. Only two possibilities lay ahead for her. Soon, she would wake up and be more or less healthy again ... or she would die.

Either way, the ordeal would finally be over.


	2. Chapter 2

"How're you feeling?" Chula said, keeping her voice low as she leaned against the wall beside the door to the clean room.

"Better." Lia still sounded a bit run-down, but far stronger than when she came aboard. "Much better, actually. Still aching all over and a bit light-headed now and then, but it's a big improvement."

"Glad to hear that."

"How long have I been here?"

"A week."

"Keelah." Lia sat up slowly and took a few deep breaths. "I only remember half of it."

"I'm not surprised. You were pretty messed up."

"I must've been." Lia scooted off the examination table, gave herself a moment to be sure she could maintain her balance, and walked over to the bench. "Actually, I'm _still_ pretty screwed up. I mean ... the geth _bought_ me." She shuddered, leaned on the bench, and shook her head. "I'm their _slave_."

"Lia, take it easy. If they hadn't bought you, you might've died. Or at the very least, never completed your Pilgrimage. Now you have a fighting chance."

"Maybe." Lia sighed, cleared her throat, and tried to focus on her neatly folded protective suit.

"I cleaned and sterilized your suit."

"Oh, thank you."

"You're welcome. Now, I bet you're ready to get the hell out of that clean room."

"Oh, absolutely."

"Okay, once you put your suit back on, I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew and give you a tour of the _Sulaco_."

Lia nodded and began putting her suit on. A few minutes later, she clicked her visor on, booted up her suit's computer system, ran a quick diagnostic and checked her suit seals. After finding everything in order, she stepped into the airlock and out into the main medical bay.

"I imagine you still have a few questions you'd like answered," Chula said as she led Lia through the corridor outside the med-bay.

Lia raised her hands, let them fall, and shook her head. "Yeah, but I don't even know where to start."

"Well, when the geth offered to let me stay on their ship, I figured it was best to start with _them_." Chula opened a hatch and led her into another corridor.

"Yeah, that's a good point. So, what's the deal with them?"

"Well, you know they've kept themselves isolated ever since the exodus from our homeworld, but recently they built a specialized platform-the one called Legion-to venture outside the Perseus Veil and have a look around. They were curious about organics and wanted to study us. And, I think, they were interested in Commander Shepard in particular. Legion ended up on his ship, and has been there ever since."

"I vaguely remember the geth-uh, Weyland, I mean-saying something about Legion while treating my illness."

Chula nodded. "From what I've been told about the _Normandy_, they had a few close calls. The geth realized that if their only platform outside geth space was lost before it could back itself up, some crucial information could be lost forever. So they decided to send out a couple more to continue their studies; while Legion helps Shepard save the galaxy from some cosmic horror that's gearing up to invade, Weyland and Yutani are just cruising around, satisfying their curiosity."

"Huh. So, they're studying us by buying slaves?"

"That was my idea. I figured the most important thing was to get you out of your little jam. The geth seemed to genuinely want to help."

"_Right_."

Chula laughed softly and opened another hatch. "I felt the same way at first. But they didn't have to help you, and they didn't have to rescue me when I was bleeding all over the deck of my ship. As I said when we met, I can't help having my suspicions, but I figure I owe them the benefit of the doubt as much as I owe them my life."

"Okay, valid point, I guess." Lia followed her into a large room with a half-dozen tables in the center and a small kitchen at the far end. "Yeah, I guess if all they wanted was to study organics, they wouldn't have gotten involved in anyone's affairs, even to save a life."

"Right. I think one of the reasons they're here is to show the rest of the galaxy that their intentions are good. If what I've heard about the Reapers is true, then _everyone_ will need to be united to stand against them, quarians and geth included. Peace between us and the geth is unlikely if _someone_ doesn't make the first move. And it doesn't look like our leadership is willing to make an effort."

"Speaking of which, do you think the rumors are true?" Lia dropped her voice to a whisper. "I mean, is the Admiralty Board really considering a first strike against the geth?"

"It sure looks that way. The geth say they don't want a fight, but obviously they'll defend themselves if attacked. I don't want our people to become extinct, and I'm afraid that's exactly what'll happen if they try to take the homeworld by force." Chula sighed and shook her head. "So I hope the 'PR campaign' works. If they're really willing to coexist with us, and if our leaders aren't too thick-skulled to make an equal effort ... well, I have to hope it can happen."

"Yeah. I want there to still be a Flotilla to return to once I finish my Pilgrimage."

"Hey, Chula."

She turned and found one of the human crew members taking a seat at the table nearest the kitchen. She waved and walked over to him.

"Hi, Quint."

He grimaced, shook his head, and brushed his long, blonde hair away from his face. "You know, I'm not really comfortable with that nickname now that I know what it means in a certain context."

She chuckled and nodded at Lia. "Quint, this is our newest addition to the crew, Lia'Vael nar Ulnay. Lia, this is our tech specialist, Quentin Bork."

"Hi." He smiled up at her. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Lia glanced at Chula and back to Quentin. "So, how did you get that nickname, if I may ask?"

A low-pitched yet still feminine voice came from the right. "He got it from me."

Chula and Lia turned to find a krogan approaching them, holding a tray piled with a mountain of food. She sat across from Quentin, put her tray down, and reached out to clap Lia on the shoulder. "How ya doin'?"

"Uh, much better now, thanks."

Chula laughed again. "Lia, this is Dakka, one of our heavy hitters."

The krogan tossed off a jaunty salute and pointed at the chair beside her. "Have a seat. The nickname thing is a hell of a story."

"Oh, shit," Quentin grumbled.

"I never get tired of hearing it." Chula took a seat beside Quentin.

"It's fuckin' _glorious_!" Dakka grinned.

"Okay, this I've _got_ to hear, then." Lia sat beside Dakka.

"Okay," Dakka said with a boisterous laugh, "check this out."

Quentin muttered something, sighed, and picked up his coffee mug. "Oh, _yay_."

#

_Virmire, one month ago ..._

"Where the hell did _they_ come from?" Dakka pushed the nearest survivor into cover behind a stack of crates and waved her arm, urging the seven other humans to hide as well. She crouched behind the end crate and peeked around, scowling at the approaching geth platforms and the Colossus behind them.

"Heretics, maybe?" Quentin ducked behind the crate on the far end, gripped his Locust SMG in both hands, and leaned out just far enough to take a quick look at the dozens of mechs marching toward them with plasma rifles ready to fire.

"I thought they'd been handled already."

"Maybe these guys didn't get the upload." Quentin opened a comm channel. "Chula, we might need some backup."

_"Kinda busy at the moment,"_ Chula grunted over the sound of assault rifles and shotguns discharging. _"I'll be there as soon as I can."_

Dakka snarled. _Hired to chase off the pirates so these humans can build their colony in peace, and a quarian's the only one of us actually doing it. Should be me there, and her here._

On the other hand, she and Quentin were about to fight off several dozen killbots, so maybe it wasn't so bad after all. "How many batarians and vorcha do you think she's facing?"

"Well, if they stick to their usual pattern, I'd guess between fifty and a hundred."

_Oh. Fuck._ "That's not good."

"Yeah. I almost feel sorry for those guys."

Dakka shot a "WTF?" look at him, then shrugged.

He holstered his Locust and tapped a command into his Omni-Tool. "I'll see what I can do about the geth."

"Let me check something. Maybe they're not hostile." Dakka stood and waved. "Hi, guys. You here to help us or kill us?"

A hail of plasma bolts splattered against her shield. She crouched behind the crate and laughed. "That's the right answer!"

Quentin glanced at her, shook his head, and continued working with his Omni-Tool.

The eight survivors huddled between them, pale and trembling.

Dakka yanked both Revenant rifles from her back, sprang out from behind the crate, and hosed down the nearest geth, wearing their shields down and blasting chunks of metal off their bodies until she finally started hitting vital components. Sparks erupted from the holes she'd just punched through them, power sources exploded, and the geth toppled over, some thudding into the sand and others splashing into the shallow river between them and the survivors.

The rifles clicked but didn't fire, and she ducked behind the crate again. She popped out the spent thermal clips and the guns automatically chambered fresh ones. She scooted to the side, stood, jumped up over the top crate in the center, and blasted another half-dozen platforms into scrap.

At the same moment, three others shuddered, froze, and then turned their guns on other nearby geth, who adjusted their aim to deal with the new threat.

Laughing again, Dakka blew a concussive shot into one of the distracted mechs, knocking it off its feet and crashing it into a group of four beyond it. Before the rest could recover, she sprayed another hail of bullets into the geth, cutting five more of them down.

Quentin's hack wore off and the geth resumed their attack. Dakka dropped back behind the crates before her shields could fail. She checked the counters on her guns and growled.

"Those were my last clips; one gun's empty, the other's got one shot left." She arched a brow ridge at Quentin, who was-inexplicably-stretched out on the beach with his ankles crossed, tapping commands into his Omni-Tool as calmly as if he were checking the news over his morning coffee. "Huh. Think I can get 'em all to stand in a line?"

"Don't worry about it," Quentin muttered.

She stared at him. "Oh, right, you've got everything under control."

"I'm working on it." He continued operating his Omni-Tool.

"Of course. What're you gonna do, stop 'em by pretending they don't exist?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna blow up the Colossus. That's all." He smirked at her and continued tapping.

Splashing sounds-the mobile platforms marching across the river.

"Oh, blow up the Colossus. Sure. Why didn't I think of that?'

Quentin stood, pushed one last control, and stepped out into the open. He grinned and extended his middle finger. "Buddy, you just got _Borked_."

The platforms hesitated, possibly sensing something was a little off. The Colossus prepared to fire, building up a charge and drawing its head back.

"Uh, Quentin, what the fuck are you doing?" Dakka stomped over to him and reached out to grab his arm.

The Colossus's main gun reached critical-and exploded, ripping the top two-thirds of its body apart and shredding most of the smaller platforms with its shrapnel. The shockwave knocked the crates over and Dakka scrambled to prop them up before they could fall on anyone. Quentin staggered backward, tripped over a boulder, and fell on his ass.

Dakka stared at the carnage in the river and beyond, shaking her head slowly, stunned but instinctively counting the number of platforms that were still active, currently trying to pick themselves up.

Fourteen.

She turned and walked over to Quentin, took his hand and helped him back to his feet. Her hearts fluttered, a wave of giddiness almost made her stagger, and a beatific grin spread across her face.

"Dude, you've got a fuckin' _quint_!" She bellowed a laugh, clapped him on the shoulder, almost knocking him over, and charged out into the river to finish off the rest of the geth.

Quentin, chuckling, pointed his Omni-tool at the geth and overloaded their shields. Dakka fired a concussive shot from each Revenant, caving in the heads of two platforms, dropped the guns and started crushing metal skulls with her fists. When she'd finished, she strode back to Quentin, prodded him in the chest with a finger, and giggled.

"When we get back to the _Sulaco_, I am gonna have _so much_ sex with you!"

His jaw dropped as she motioned for the survivors to follow her and radioed for pickup.

"Wh ... what?"

#

Lia laughed so hard that she started coughing again. She slumped over the table and a large hand rubbed her back.

"Hey, you okay?" Dakka said.

"Yeah. Just ... give me a moment." She continued coughing, but finally it subsided and she drew a cautious breath. "Guess my lungs aren't fully recovered yet."

"You need anything?" Chula said softly, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'll be okay. Thanks." She took a few more ragged breaths and turned back to Dakka. "So, was that some sort of krogan marriage proposal?"

"Whatever it takes to get him into my bed." Dakka shrugged.

Quint sighed, rubbed his hands over his face, and chugged some of his coffee.

"So, I'm guessing he didn't take you up on your offer?"

"Nah. But I had to get it out of my system, so I spent the whole night masturbating relentlessly."

Lia burst out laughing and it immediately turned into another coughing fit.

"Okay, looks like you'll need a little more time to recover." Chula waited for Lia to get her breathing back under control, and nodded at the hatch at the far end of the mess hall. "I'll show you to your quarters. You won't have to begin your work here until morning, if you're well enough by then."

"No, I'm okay. I want to do what I was brought here to do."

"It won't kill you to wait one more night. Come on."

Lia sighed. "Well ... alright. Guess I'll see you all in the morning, then."

"Sure. Take it easy." Dakka waved and resumed shoveling food into her mouth.

"Goodnight." Quint smiled, nodded, and finished his coffee.

"I hope Weyland and Yutani won't mind if I'm not pulling my weight yet," Lia mumbled as she followed Chula across the room.

"We understand your medical condition," an oddly feminine yet distinctly geth-sounding voice said from the left. Lia turned and spotted a platform that had to be Yutani leaning out of the kitchen.

Lia stared. The geth's body was very clearly female.

It raised a hand. "Hello."

"Uh ... hi."

"Take as much recovery time as you need. Inform us when you are ready for duty."

"Um ... thank you. I should be well enough by tomorrow. I think I just need a good night's sleep without the assistance of antibiotics and other drugs."

"Acknowledged. Goodnight." Yutani turned back to the pot of soup to its right and resumed stirring.

"G ... goodnight." Lia turned and hurried into the corridor. She looked at Chula, pointed at the hatch, and whispered, "Did I really see that?"

"Yeah. It's one of the geth's social experiments, near as I can figure. They're studying gender roles and perceptions, trying to find out if sexes are viewed any differently. Or something." She shrugged. "Maybe they're wondering if there's a point to having two sexes aside from reproduction. Not sure if they'll get any useful data, though; as far as I know, it's been at least a couple centuries since males and females on any world were treated differently, aside from the krogan and salarians."

"Huh. Okay." Lia shook her head, shrugged, and continued on until Chula stopped outside a door. "Oh, speaking of the geth, I forgot to ask why all those platforms were on Virmire. I mean, it's been two years since Saren and his army were there."

"The Heretic geth who followed Saren were rewritten just a few weeks ago; they're now part of the geth collective again. Weyland and Yutani think there are a few isolated groups of Heretics who haven't synced up and received the update yet; the ones on Virmire might've returned to retrieve equipment they left behind two years ago, or who knows, maybe they were there all along, watching and waiting."

"Creepy."

"Yeah." Chula opened the door and waved her inside. "These are your quarters."

Lia stepped through the door and gasped. She'd heard people describe larger rooms than this as "small," but ...

"This is ... like ... _cavernous_!"

Chula chuckled. "Compared to what we grew up with in the Migrant Fleet, it sure is. Takes some getting used to, but you know what? I don't think I could go back to living the way I did on the _Idenna_. I still want to do everything I can to help our people, but I think I'd go nuts if I had to give all this up."

"I can see why." Lia walked slowly past the small round table, padded chairs and couch in the front part of the room, and stopped at the foot of the bed. The _enormous_ bed.

"The humans call it 'king size'." Chula stuck her hands into her coat pockets, leaned her left shoulder against the wall, and laughed. "I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I just think of it as 'fuckin' _big_.'"

Lia giggled. "Yeah, that works quite nicely." She reached out and brushed her right hand over the mattress, and her suit's neuro-stim system transferred the tactile sensations to her palm. "Oh ... this is wonderful!"

"I thought you'd like it. Beats the hell out of the roll-up mat you slept on in that shelter for so long, doesn't it?"

Lia nodded, still laughing softly, and lowered herself slowly onto the bed. She sank into it and spent a moment squeezing the edge of the mattress with her hands.

"Well, I'll let you get settled in." Chula pointed at the control panels beside the bed. "If you have trouble falling asleep, I've found some soothing sounds in the media center. Gray noise, flowing rivers, gentle winds, that sort of thing."

"Oh, thanks. Being in so many places that run quietly, I keep having nightmares about ventilation systems failing or engines going into catastrophic shutdown. Haven't had a good night's sleep since I started my Pilgrimage."

"I had the same problem. I've found that the sound of wind in trees does a pretty good job of relaxing me."

"I'll try that. Thanks."

Chula tipped her hat and headed for the door.

_Huh. I've got to ask her about her choice of clothing sometime._ Then another thought occurred to her. "Oh, one thing I didn't think to ask in the mess hall. Dakka mentioned that you were fighting off batarian pirates on Virmire while she and Quint escorted the survivors to the shuttle. I forgot to ask what happened on your end."

"Well, as you might guess, I survived. Dunno how many batarians and vorcha there were; didn't exactly take the time to count 'em." Chula shrugged. "They wouldn't stop shooting at me, so I just kept killing 'em until none were left. And here I am."

"Whoa."

Chula laughed again. "I'll have to tell you all about it sometime. But for now, I'll let you get some rest. Well, some non-medicated rest, which is the best kind."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Chula stepped into the hallway and the door closed.

Lia sat for another moment, running her hands over the mattress. She still had so many questions. Such as, what was a female krogan doing off Tuchanka? Especially such a young one-the krogan equivalent of early teens, probably.

_Oh, well, maybe I'll find out tomorrow._ She slid farther onto the bed, flopped onto her back, and laid her head on the pillow. _Ohhhhhh ... this is heavenly!_

Then a disquieting thought struck her. _I nearly died and I've come back from the brink, I have a chance to continue my Pilgrimage, I'm going to sleep on the biggest, most comfortable bed I've ever laid my eyes on ... and I have the _geth_ to thank for it._

She sighed and reached over to the console.

_Yeah, Lia, good luck falling asleep _now_._


	3. Chapter 3

"You sure you're feeling up to this, Lia?"

"Yeah. Getting a full night's sleep made a huge difference." Lia joined Chula, Quint, Dakka, and Yutani outside the airlock. "Though I really didn't intend to sleep twelve hours."

"Guess those relaxation sounds really helped, then." Chula laughed and opened the airlock.

"They sure did. Thanks for telling me about them." Lia stepped into the airlock, trying not to stare at Yutani as she passed ... her, it, them, whatever. The geth platform wore a black cloak and hood over a black jumpsuit with numerous pockets. Lia almost shook her head. This stage of her Pilgrimage seemed to be getting more bizarre moment by moment.

But then, she realized, a geth wearing clothing would probably be harder to spot from a distance, and even closer up, one might not notice it with a quick, casual glance. And, of course, all those pockets would be useful.

"So, where are we headed?" Lia said as the rest of them entered the airlock.

"Omega," Dakka said. "We docked a few minutes ago."

"Wow, I didn't even feel the ship lock into the docking port."

"Creator-Chula'Raalga is an excellent pilot," Yutani said, and once again, Lia had to force herself not to stare. Hearing a female voice coming out of a geth platform was a little unnerving.

Actually, hearing a geth speak _at all_ kind of freaked her out.

"I have my moments," Chula said with a soft laugh. "And please just call me Chula. I never created any geth."

"Acknowledged."

"And I'm just Lia."

"Acknowledged." Yutani closed the airlock, waited for it to cycle through, and opened the outer door.

Lia turned and found herself staring down a long corridor lit inadequately by strips of flickering, softly buzzing fluorescent tubes where the walls joined the ceiling and floor.

"So, uh, Omega? I've never been here, but I've heard quite a bit about it." Lia cleared her throat and hoped that her nervousness hadn't come through in her voice.

"We make pretty regular stops here." Dakka unwrapped something that looked like a purple brick, popped it into her mouth, and began chewing. She looked around for a trash receptacle, didn't find one, and held the wrapper out to Quint with a shrug. "Uh, would you mind ... ?"

He smirked, took the wrapper, and tossed it into the air. His Omni-Tool flashed as the wrapper left his hand, and the paper erupted into a fireball. It faded in an instant, leaving nothing but a fine powder drifting to the floor.

"That's hot." Dakka laughed and strode on down the corridor. "Anyway, we've learned that there's always money to be made here. And it's a _great_ place to buy guns."

"So, you're mercs?" Lia started to follow, stopped abruptly and winced. "I mean, _we're_ mercs?"

"Sort of." Chula stuck her hands into the pockets in her cargo pants and walked along beside her. "We're not like Eclipse or Blue Suns or whoever. We usually take on smaller jobs for legit clients, and whenever we can, we help people who can't help themselves."

"And make them pay us for our help?"

"Nothing like that. As an example, let's say we find someone who's being victimized by a gang-assaulted, threatened, intimidated, robbed, whatever. We'll take on the job gratis, and whatever money we swipe from the bad guys, we return what was stolen to the victims and keep the rest. Call it an alternative revenue stream."

"Ah. Okay. Guess I don't have a problem with that. Although stealing from the wrong people could cause problems later on."

Dakka shrugged and grinned. "They usually don't give a fuck once we're done with 'em."

"Ah. Well. Okay, then." Lia chuckled nervously and walked on in silence for a moment.

They came to a section of the corridor that had windows looking out on the space outside Omega. Dakka paused at one of them to check out her reflection, resting her hands on the M-300 Claymore on each hip. She tugged on the collar of her black armor, adjusting it ever so slightly, and continued chewing absently.

"Say," Lia said, "I can't help being curious about that stuff you're chewing."

"Bubble gum." Dakka grinned, blew a huge bubble, and popped it. "Grape."

"Ah." _Huh. Okay._ Lia shrugged and kept pace with everyone else. "So, are we here for anything specific? Or just looking for a gig?"

"We usually don't have anything set up in advance when we come here," Quint said. "It's usually not long before something comes up."

"Last time we were here, we ran across several prisoners who escaped from the _Purgatory_ just before it blew up." Dakka stopped in front of a hatch and opened it.

"Ugh. Those bastards." Chula shivered. "We passed by an apartment door that had been forced open. Heard a woman screaming and other voices yelling. I charged in and found them looting the place and one of them trying to rape the human who lived there. Well, we didn't allow it to continue."

"One of them went after Dakka with a knife." Quint shook his head and laughed. "Last mistake he ever made."

Dakka shrugged. "All I did was punch him." Then she grinned.

"Well," Chula said, "in that case, technique was everything." She glanced at Lia and said, "She pounded him right on the top of his head. Shattered his neck."

"The word used in the medical report was, _'exploded_,'" Yutani said.

"Keelah." Lia fidgeted for a moment. Obviously, the criminal had brought it upon himself, but still ... _ouch_.

Quint grinned as they continued along the next section of corridor. "Is it weird for me to find that kind of arousing?"

"Now you tell me," Dakka muttered around her bubble gum. "You could've mentioned that a long time ago."

"Well, I never said never. I'm just still, y'know, trying to wrap my mind around the idea."

Dakka stopped, turned, and arched a brow ridge at him. "Ah, so, there's still hope?"

"Uh ... well ... never said never."

They turned a corner and passed through a set of double doors into a huge, open space filled with restaurants, bars, and stores selling who knew what, all haphazardly set up, a sort of makeshift mall. A mix of humans, batarians, elcor, vorcha, and salarians milled around or browsed merchandise in the stores.

Chula looked around and rubbed her hands together. "Let's see what kind of trouble we can get into today."

#

"_Beautiful!_"

Everyone nearby almost jumped out of their skin. Quint whirled toward Dakka and found her staring at an image on the kiosk monitor with a huge, overjoyed grin. In the corner of his eye, Chula twitched and reached for one of the many weapons she always carried under her black duster; she recovered quickly, though, and reached up to adjust the position of her outback hat. And Lia almost backed into an elcor lumbering past.

Quint slumped forward, braced his hands on the counter, and sighed. "Whatever it is, it'd _better_ be beautiful. I'm too young to die of a goddamned heart attack."

"What, you can face down a Colossus on foot without even blinking, but you nearly piss your pants if I get excited about a new gun?" Dakka seemed to forget about it immediately, turning back to the kiosk and pointing at it. "Look! Look!" She giggled.

_Oh, boy._ Quint stepped closer and took a look at the item on the screen. An enormous gun, of course, with six barrels. He read the details and nodded. "Liquid cooling system to prevent overheating. _Very_ nice."

"Yeah-_and_ check out its rate of fire." She clapped her hands like a child falling in love with a new toy. "_Want_." She tapped a command into her Omni-Tool, transferring the price of the weapon from her account into the shop's.

"Spendy little item."

"Worth it, though."

"Good choice," the batarian behind the counter said. "It'll be packaged and delivered to your ship shortly."

"Thanks." Dakka blew another bubble while she skimmed more merchandise. She stopped a moment later, tapped one of the images, and chuckled. "Ah, the new _Fornax_." She tapped her Omni-Tool again. "Heh heh. Downloading."

"You read that?"

"I wouldn't say I _read_ it, but yeah." Dakka snorted. "Like you've never looked at one."

"Never said I haven't. Some of it's not bad. I have to skip ahead when I find any hanar or elcor in 'em, though. Just a bit much for me."

"I got into it before I left Tuchanka." Her emerald eyes took on a distant look as a semi-buried memory oozed to the surface, and her mood clouded over. "Since I was fertile, it was my duty to serve as a brood mare as soon as I was old enough. Not what I wanted to do with my life, but back then I believed the krogan were worth saving, so I went along with it. And y'know, somehow, the idea of some dude I'd never met before showing up the next morning to prong me didn't exactly blow my skirt up."

Quint tugged on his shirt collar. Dakka had never gone so in-depth with him about her past before. Granted, he'd only known her a little over a month. Which made it even weirder, now that he thought about it.

"So, I figured I needed something to get me into the mood," she continued after pausing to blow a bubble. "Found an issue of _Fornax_ and tried it out. Worked pretty well. Figured I could just close my eyes and pretend it was this human in the current issue givin' it to me instead of some fuckin' chud that _someone else_ decided I was gonna ride."

"Uh-huh." Quint glanced over his shoulder at the others. Chula stood nearby, looking through the store's selection on another kiosk, with Lia beside her, both of them muttering to each other about Omni-Tool upgrades. And Yutani stood a bit farther away, looking around slowly, observing the goings-on around her, waiting for him and the others to finish what they were doing.

_Got a lot to learn about the whole "command" thing, don't you?_ He shrugged and turned back to Dakka.

"Turns out I ended up having much bigger things to worry about. A rival clan attacked us before the guy even got there. A lot of us were killed, and I ended up with an injury that left me infertile. That's why I'm here; I walked away from Tuchanka and its entire population. If they won't stop slaughtering each other when their entire species is dying out, then maybe they don't deserve to survive." She frowned and shook her head abruptly. "Huh. How did a conversation about porn lead me down _that_ particular mental mineshaft?"

"Uh ... no idea."

"Oh, well. Moving on." She shrugged and kept flipping through the sample images on the screen. "Oh, I know these two; Dick Sizemore and Valeria Tarakkis. I've got all of their vids. I might actually read the interview in this one." She grinned and eyed the image for a few seconds.

"Seems you've got a bit of a human fetish."

"Never gave it any thought." She glanced at him and smirked. "Didn't realize I had one until you caught my eye."

Quint raised an eyebrow and took a quick look at the images, just long enough to make out a human and a turian going at it. He turned away with a shrug, then turned back for a second look.

"Never thought I'd hear myself say this, but that turian's kinda cute."

"Oh, sure, the turian's cute, but I'm not?"

Quint rolled his eyes. "Never said you weren't cute. Though I never thought I'd use that word to describe _any_ krogan." He put on a lopsided grin. "I gotta admit, the way you acted when you saw that gun was downright _adorable_."

"Finally-progress!" She finished browsing the store and stepped away from the kiosk.

In the corner of his left eye, Lia glanced at Chula and waved a hand at Dakka. Chula laughed and shrugged.

From somewhere behind Quint, a snarling voice bellowed, "_You!_"

All of them turned to find a group of batarians charging straight toward them. The one in the lead had scars all over the left side of his face, having apparently been burned severely not very long ago.

He was heading straight for Chula, Quint realized.

Yutani turned to Chula and raised her right eyebrow flap. "That did not take long."

Chula sighed and pulled her hands out of her pockets, but kept them near her hips, ready to draw any of her numerous guns. She shook her head and simply said, "Yep."

#

Dakka growled and stepped forward. "That's close enough."

"Well, look at this. What are you doing so far from Tuchanka?" The batarian sneered. "Go back to where you belong."

"_Fuck_ Tuchanka!" She lunged at him, stopping and backing off only when Chula raised her left hand and shook her head. "_I_ decide where I belong!"

The batarians whipped out an assortment of hand cannons and assault rifles. Dakka drew her Claymores and covered the mouthy one and his nearest mook, Chula pulled two Phalanx cannons from under her duster, and Quint readied his Omni-Tool for combat.

"Aw, shit," the batarian behind the counter snapped, reaching under the counter and grabbing an M-15 Vindicator. "Whatever your 'issues' are, take 'em somewhere else."

Most of the people around the two groups pulled out their own weapons and ran for whatever cover they could find.

"Uh, guys," Lia said, raising her hands slowly and taking a step back. "It's probably not a good idea to start shooting with all these people around. Especially when most of _them_ are armed."

"We can take care of ourselves," the batarian shopkeeper growled. "But if any of your shots hit anywhere near any of us, we'll gun you _all_ down."

"I have no quarrel with the rest of you," the scarred batarian snarled, moving closer to Chula, looking her over and smirking. "You're the one I'm gonna blow away. Though maybe not before I have a little fun first."

Yutani planted herself between him and Chula. "Step back."

"Keep your toy soldier out of this or I'll scrap it."

"Actually, she's not mine." Chula laughed softly.

Yutani's brow flaps dipped into a frown. "Chula is a member of my crew. If you have a problem with her, you have a problem with me." She nodded at something off to the right. "And with him."

Dakka risked a quick glance away and spotted Weyland emerging from a side corridor, wearing cargo pants and matching shirt under a hip-length black jacket. He gripped a hand cannon that appeared to be of geth design in his right hand, and his Omni-Tool was already active. He must have been monitoring the situation from the _Sulaco_, Dakka guessed. Or maybe Yutani had contacted him.

Yutani activated her own 'Tool and reached under her cloak for one of her weapons.

The shopkeeper raised his Vindicator and lined up a shot on the back of Yutani's head.

Dakka swung one of her shotguns around and jammed the barrel against the side of his head. "If your finger even twitches, I'll splatter your brains all over your shop."

"Oh, Keelah," Lia moaned, glanced around, and ducked behind the end of the counter. "Note to self-buy guns. _Many_ guns. _Big_ ones."

"Before we all kill each other," Chula said, "I'd really like to know who you are and what your problem with me is."

The batarian snarled. "Virmire."

"Ah, okay. You're one of the pirates we were hired to chase off." She chuckled. "Guess I missed one."

"One of our Pyro squad was standing beside me when you blew his fuel tank. You can see what it did to me."

"Bit of an improvement, actually."

"You _bitch_! Just for that, I won't give you a quick death. I'll rape the living shit out of you and then sit back and wait for your fucked-up immune system to finish the job!"

"Incorrect." Yutani produced a geth hand cannon and jammed the barrel under his chin.

"Yeah," Dakka growled, taking aim at his head. "Fuck you, Scarface."

"Hold on," Chula snapped before the batarian could fly into any more of a rage. "I have an idea. You and me, Scarface-hand to hand fight to the death in the nearest arena." She holstered her guns slowly and placed her hands on her hips. "Or are you a big pussy?"

"We cannot allow that," Yutani said, turning to address Chula without moving her gun away from Scarface. "Your safety-"

"It's the best solution. This way, the score is settled, and no bystanders are caught in the crossfire."

"You sure you wanna do this?" Dakka muttered.

"I took out several dozen of 'em single-handedly on Virmire; I can take this one."

Scarface burst out laughing. "Agreed! I'll fuck you right in front of everyone and I'll still be at it after you gasp your last breath!"

Reluctantly, everyone lowered their weapons and backed away. Lia shuddered and walked over to Chula. Her glowing eyes narrowed, and Dakka could easily picture her lips curled in disgust behind her mask's air filtration unit as she glared at Scarface.

"Evil son of a bitch. I'm not normally a violent person, Chula, but I'll make an exception in this case. I hope you rip his cock off and ram it down his throat."

"Well, I'd rather not touch his filthy little crotch, but I appreciate the sentiment." Chula shrugged and chuckled. "By the way, 'events' like this one attract a lot of gamblers, so be sure you guys place some bets. We could make a ton of money off this if it turns out the way I hope."

"Hmm, yeah, there's that, alright." Dakka laughed and clapped Lia on the shoulder, almost knocking her into the counter. "See? We told you that money-making opportunities never take long to come our way in this place. Hell, if any of Scarface's buddies are willing, I'll step into the octagon with any number of 'em, myself."

"Alright." Chula pushed the front of her hat down slightly. "Let's do this."


	4. Chapter 4

"Authoritatively: Hand over your weapons." The elcor at the end of the long table stared at Scarface and waited for him to put his rifle and pistol down. Scarface complied and, with a sneer, forked over a half-dozen knives.

An asari with a cigarette pinched in the corner of her mouth scanned him with her Omni-Tool and nodded at the elcor. "That's all of 'em." She packed the weapons into a crate and stacked it on a pile of similar crates. "These'll be returned after the fight. Well, if you still need 'em, that is." She nodded to her left and muttered around the cigarette, "Go on in."

Lia hung back with Chula, Quint, Dakka, and the two geth platforms as Scarface strode toward the square pit beyond the table. From the look of it, the pit might've once been a cargo bay or large storage room, but was now empty except for numerous old, dried blood stains on the floor and walls. The walls were just high enough to prevent the combatants from climbing out without the help of a ladder, which Scarface used to descend into the pit. He moved to one corner, clenched his fists, flexed his arms, and snarled.

Chula took off her hat and held it out to Lia. "Here, hold on to this for a few minutes, would you?"

"Sure."

"Thanks." Chula sauntered up to the elcor.

"Authoritatively," he droned, "Hand over your weapons."

Chula reached under her duster, drew her two Phalanx hand cannons, and placed them on the table. She followed up with a sawed-off shotgun, a pair of Locust submachine guns, two swords, a serrated knife from a sheath strapped to each ankle, an assortment of incendiary, concussion, and frag grenades from her coat pockets, throwing stars, more knives of varying lengths and styles, an electro-truncheon, and a pair of knuckle dusters custom built for quarian hands.

Lia shook her head slowly. "Wow."

A full minute later, Chula was still pulling weapons from her pockets and placing them on the growing pile.

The elcor and the asari exchanged an awestruck glance. The elcor turned to stare at the pile.

"With increasing horror: Holy fucking shit."

Dakka laughed and Quint grinned.

"I love seeing people's faces when she does that," Quint said.

Dakka barked out another laugh. "I just love seeing her do it."

"You two," Lia said. "You know, I can kind of see it happening."

"Wish Quint could."

He aimed a brief smile at Dakka. "I have to admit, the idea is kinda growing on me."

"Really? About goddamn time."

He shrugged. "I'm a little concerned about being flattened accidentally."

"Hey, I can be gentle. Hell, you can even be on top if you want."

Quint snickered. "Well, the other thing is … let's be honest, it'd probably be like dropping a thermal clip down a mine shaft."

"It's not the Grand Canyon." Dakka rolled her eyes, reached over and fondled his crotch. "Oh, yeah, you're packing enough. You can stop worrying now."

His face turned bright red.

Lia stared at them for a moment, turned her head and coughed, and walked over to lean on the rail that lined the pit. Scarface's crew stood on the opposite side, glaring across at her and the others. Spectators continued gathering around the pit, surrounding both groups.

"That's the last one," Chula said, placing an arm-length metal rod on the pile.

The asari stared at the pile, shook herself out of it, and scanned Chula. "She's clean." She waved her hand at the arena and started loading the weapons into a crate.

Chula waved at her crewmates, vaulted over the rail, did a sort of corkscrew-somersault in the air, and landed in a crouch in the center of the pit. She looked up slowly and held her opponent's gaze.

Scarface's sneer faltered.

Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Think he's starting to realize he fucked up." She activated her Omni-Tool and accessed the local network. "I know who I'm betting on."

"Accessing Omega network," Weyland intoned. "Seventy-nine percent of the bets are against Chula."

"I wonder how much of that is because they think our weak immune systems hobble us that much," Lia said, "and how much is because all of them simply hate quarians."

"I think at least a few of 'em might gain a little respect for you in the next few minutes." Quint entered a bet into his Omni-Tool.

"Percentage betting against Chula is now seventy-four," Weyland said. "Placing our wager in favor of Chula."

Yutani nodded. "Placing our wager in favor of Chula."

"I'd bet on her if I had any money," Lia said with a shrug. "I'm betting on her in spirit, though."

"Don't worry." Dakka clapped Lia's shoulder again, but much less forcefully this time. "When we land an actual gig, the standard fee is always divided equally among the crew, so you'll get your share. Also, any money you 'acquire' during each mission-taking it from bad guys who don't need it anymore, for example-is yours to keep."

"Ah. Good to know." Lia stood up a little straighter, feeling as if a slight amount of the weight on her had been lifted. If her owners really were that reasonable, maybe things were looking up, after all. She focused on Chula, who was standing casually where she'd landed, watching her opponent and waiting for him to make his move. "Now, if those guys don't cheat, she'll have a chance."

"Here's how this works." Dakka leaned on the rail, putting her weight on her left foot and crossing her right ankle behind it. "The combatants aren't allowed to bring weapons into the arena, but if any of their buddies decide to throw an equalizer into the pit, well, hey, shit happens."

"So, Scarface's crew could just throw weapons to him and no one would stop it?"

"Yeah, but we can do the same for Chula. We'll wait and see what they do." Dakka glanced at her. "And in case they decide to start shooting because the fight isn't going in their favor, be ready to find some cover. Hide behind me, if you have to."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks." Lia took a slow breath and wrung her hands as she waited for the fight to start. _Yeah. Definitely buy some guns at the first opportunity._

#

"So, are we gonna do this, or not?" Chula stood with her hands in her pockets as she watched a LOKI mech pull the ladder up, trapping her and Scarface in the pit. She turned back to the batarian and stared at him.

He glared back at her and bared his sharp teeth.

She planted her feet firmly, clenched her fists and raised her arms into a defensive position, and waited for him to make his first move.

After glaring for a moment longer, he launched at her, sprinting across the pit, snarling and cocking his right fist back just before reaching her.

She dodged to the right, raised her left leg, and rammed her knee into his face. His snarl turned into a howl and he flopped onto his back and skidded into the wall behind Chula.

"Yeah!" Dakka bellowed. "That fucked him up!"

Grinning, Chula backed away and returned to her defensive posture.

The crowd's volume level dropped a few notches as the onlookers took in what had just happened.

Scarface picked himself up, glared at her, and circled around her, keeping his distance for the moment.

She pivoted, keeping him in front of her. If he had any brains at all, he would approach her much more cautiously from now on.

He rubbed his hand over his face and growled. "Just for that, I'll make it even _slower_."

"Right. You're doing a hell of a job, so far."

"All I have to do is break your visor open and breathe on you." He smirked and lunged forward.

Rather than dodge him again, she did the last thing he expected-she charged straight at him. His jaw dropped and all four eyes popped open a split-second before her right fist connected with his chin and her left drove into his gut. She followed up by lifting her knee into his face the instant he doubled over, not giving him a chance to recover. His head snapped back and he staggered away from her.

She kept after him, landing a flurry of blows to his head and chest, pushing him back against the wall, and didn't let up, pummeling him to keep him from getting his hands on her. Finally, a solid uppercut drove his head upward and the back of his skull slammed into the wall with an audible _crack_. He slumped to the left, collapsed, and hit the floor like a sack of wet shit.

A line of text appeared in her heads-up display: _You are being targeted by a sniper._ The message ID was Yutani's.

Her heart lurched and she started dancing erratically from side to side, trying to make herself a harder target while pretending to wait for her opponent to get back on his feet. She flicked her eyes upward, trying to spot the sniper without being obvious about it.

She caught a glimpse of Yutani pushing through the crowd, heading for the group of batarians on the right. Just as she spotted a sniper rifle poking out from between two shoulders, Yutani disappeared into the crowd-and a split-second later, the rifle vanished, yanked backward.

The batarians turned abruptly, their expressions confused, and recoiled from what they saw.

The sniper slumped over, the rail catching under his armpits and holding his limp body up, his head hanging oddly, his neck clearly broken. Yutani stood behind him, holding his rifle, sweeping her optic slowly over the rest of Scarface's crew and arching one eyebrow-flap, as if daring them to make a move.

Chula laughed. _The geth have my back. How fucked-up is that?_ She turned back to Scarface and waited for him to push himself up onto his hands and knees.

She strode up to him and kicked him in the gut, doubling him over again. She drove another kick into the side of his head, hitting him so hard that she almost fell over. He rolled onto his back, remaining conscious barely long enough to groan.

Chula kept watching him long enough to be sure he wouldn't be getting up any time soon, and took a few deep breaths. "Don't need an immune system to beat _your_ ass, do I?"

Scarface groaned again, blinked and shook his head, and tried to sit up.

_Uh … oh, shit._ Chula sighed and snapped back into a defensive stance.

Something hit the floor near him with a metallic _plink_. Chula flicked a glance to the left and spotted a huge knife that one of his crew had tossed into the pit.

"Knife coming your way," Dakka said over the comlink, and Chula looked up. An even larger, serrated dagger tumbled through the air toward her. She reached out and caught it just as Scarface picked up his knife and lurched to his feet.

Chula faced him, holding the dagger ready. _Okay. This is where it gets interesting._

#

"Scumbags." Lia shook her head. "They have to cheat as soon as their leader starts losing."

"I've never met a batarian who played fair." Dakka shrugged. "But then, the only ones I've ever met were mercenaries, pirates, and slavers who ended up shooting at me." She smirked. "They're all dead now."

"Ah. Uh, right on." _Note to self-stay on her good side._ Lia braced her hands on the rail and focused on Chula and Scarface as they slashed at each other with their knives. "I hope she's as good as she made herself out to be."

"She is." Quint smiled and stuck his hands into his pockets, trying to appear casual, but he still looked worried. At least, if she hadn't misinterpreted his tense body language. "After she was nearly killed by those raiders, she made a habit of learning how to use every weapon she could get her hands on and every hand-to-hand technique she came across. She can handle herself."

"She's even taught me a few things," Dakka said. "She developed a fascination with human culture on her travels, and is learning several styles of human martial arts. She's been teaching me what she knows." She smiled. "I've found that I prefer it to the typical krogan roar-and-charge technique."

"Huh. Interesting. A shame I didn't learn some of that before I got stuck on the Citadel; there's a certain volus and a C-Sec officer I would've liked to beat the crap out of." Lia glanced at the other batarians and shook her head slowly in wonderment when she saw Yutani covering them with a geth pulse pistol in each hand, discouraging them from further interference. The confiscated sniper rifle was now hanging on the platform's back.

She returned her attention to the pit in time to see Scarface stagger backward, holding his free hand to his face, and let out an enraged scream.

Dakka laughed again. "If he survives this, his face will be sore for at least a month."

After shaking it off, Scarface snarled, cocked his hand back, and _threw_ the knife at Chula. She tried to dodge it, but didn't move quite fast enough.

The handle struck her chest and bounced off, and the knife clattered to the floor.

Chula let out a sigh of relief.

Scarface stared at her. After a few seconds, both left eyes started twitching.

Chula snorted. "Dumbshit."

Sudden movement flitted through the corner of Lia's eye. She looked toward it and found the other batarians swarming Yutani, piling on it and trying to wrench the guns from its hands.

"Uh-oh," Quint muttered, activating his Omni-Tool.

Four batarians slipped past the struggling geth, jumped the rail, landed in the pit, and advanced on Chula.

On Quint's left, Weyland extended its left arm. Its Omni-Tool flared and a combat drone blipped into existence behind the batarians and zapped the nearest one, dropping him to his knees.

Dakka nudged Lia's shoulder. "Better find some cover." Staring into the pit, she rushed around the edge, pushing through the crowd to reach the batarians. One of them spotted her and whirled, raising a pistol toward her. She dropped him with a single punch to the face and kept going.

Yutani emerged momentarily from the mass of batarians, pointed its Omni-Tool into the pit, and launched a combat drone. The drone darted up behind the batarian on the right and zapped him off his feet.

Lia shook her head and glanced around for something to take cover behind.

Dakka vaulted over the rail, plunged straight down, and landed on top of one of the batarians approaching Chula, crushing him to the floor with a series of truly nauseating crunches and snaps. She rolled and came up in a crouch, glancing around to locate more enemies.

The other batarians turned to face Dakka and the drone. As soon as Scarface's back was toward Chula, she lunged forward, clamped her left arm around his neck and yanked him off-balance. Her other hand came up with the dagger and plunged it into his chest. He screamed and his legs buckled.

Dakka charged the nearer of his cohorts, leaped and spun in the air, and drove a foot into his chest, sending him rocketing into the far wall hard enough to leave a dent when his body crumpled to the floor.

The third backed away from her, aimed his gun and fired. Dakka's shields flared up for the second it took her to reach him. She crashed her left arm down on his wrist and the gun fell from his hand. He yanked a knife from his belt and lashed out. Dakka blocked it and pulverized him with a rapid-fire series of punches and chops, then spun and smashed her arm across his chest, slamming him to the floor and leaving him coughing up blood.

The remaining batarian pushed himself up and was immediately knocked down by Yutani's drone. Dakka walked over to him, waited for him to get back onto his hands and knees, and kicked him in the ass, sending him reeling.

Lia shifted her attention back to the rest of Scarface's crew just as Yutani bashed two of their heads together and Weyland flung another over the rail.

Suddenly, the rest of the crowd surrounded the remaining batarians and the two platforms with weapons drawn, and everyone froze.

"That's enough!" a new voice shouted, and Lia turned to find the asari who'd taken the combatants' weapons striding toward the crowd. "It's over. The quarian won."

The batarians glared at her for a long moment and finally backed off. Weyland and Yutani watched them until they'd dispersed, then the two platforms lowered the ladder into the pit.

Both combat drones evaporated.

Chula squatted beside Scarface, who was still moaning and gurgling. She clapped him on the shoulder, jolting a louder cry from him, and pointed at the knife still buried in his chest. "You can keep that." She stood and walked away as if he'd already ceased to exist.

She and Dakka climbed the ladder. As soon as they reached the top, the asari looked Chula over and aimed a saucy smile at her.

Dakka checked her Omni-Tool and grinned. "Nice little payout we got from this."

"Fuckin' awesome," the asari said, still smiling. "After you get your weapons back, if you're interested, we could go someplace more private."

"Oh, are you saying what I think you're saying?" Chula cocked her head.

"Let me put it this way: Is your neuro-stim software up to date?"

"State of the art, software and hardware both."

Lia walked slowly over to them, suddenly remembering the outback hat she still held. She handed it back to Chula.

"Ah, thanks." Chula put the hat on, tilted at a rakish angle, and turned back to the asari. "Actually, my quarters on our ship are private. And quite … _cozy_."

"Sounds good. Lead the way."

"Holy shit," Lia muttered, "we're here for a couple hours and you've already got someone wanting to hump you?"

"Well, I'm no Captain Kirk, but sometimes I get lucky."

"Who?"

"I'll explain later." Chula laughed and patted Lia's arm. "Anyway, at least you got to experience the real thing, even if it did almost kill you. I mean, it couldn't have been _all_ bad, given what you said when we met."

"Well, okay, yeah, once I decided to throw myself into it, some of it wasn't bad at all. Kind of weird, though; humans have too many fingers." Lia shrugged, then she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head. "Okay, I admit it, I came before he did. _Twice_."

Chula burst out laughing. "Atta girl!" She turned to the geth platforms. "Well, if you don't mind, I have a guest to entertain."

"Acknowledged," both platforms replied in unison.

Lia watched her and the asari walk back to the corridor leading to the _Sulaco_. She put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "Wow."

"Yeah, no shit," Dakka grumbled. "I was pretty awesome, myself, but once again, no sexy time for the krogan chick."

"Well," Quint said, "I gotta admit, your Goomba Stomp was pretty sexy. And that flying, spinning kick thing you did was hotter than hell."

"Fuckin'-A, it was." Dakka grinned and rubbed her hands together. "So, your quarters or mine?"

"Uh, well, actually, our new crewmate probably wouldn't be comfortable if we leave her alone with two geth platforms."

"Always thinking up excuses." Dakka made a farting sound with her mouth. "Okay, fine. I do, however, reserve the right to grope you every now and then."

Quint mumbled something that sounded like, "Eheh." Then he shrugged. "Nothing I can't live with, I guess."

"Sweet." Dakka grinned and reached over to give his ass a lingering squeeze.

He blushed again.

Lia chuckled. "You two are adorable."

Dakka grinned, clasped her hands, and batted her eyelids. Quint snickered.

"Okay, let's see how much more trouble we can get into before we leave." He headed for one of the doors that led deeper into Omega.

"I'm guessing it won't take long," Lia said, staying close behind him and Dakka.

Dakka grinned. "It never does."


	5. Chapter 5

"Coming up on an hour without someone picking a fight with us." Quint chuckled. "Think that might be a record."

"I'm actually okay with that," Lia said as she looked around, taking in various details now that she had a bit of uninterrupted time to study her surroundings. The corridors and chambers had started to look alike after a while; most of them reminded her of the _Ulnay_'s engineering section, though this place had a certain oppressive atmosphere that the ships of the Flotilla happily lacked.

She and the others had entered another haphazardly set-up marketplace, this one not far from the Afterlife club, with shops placed wherever they could be squeezed into an alcove. On the right was a small shop with a batarian behind the counter, and farther ahead on the left was one owned by an elcor. The two geth platforms split up, Yutani walking over to the former and Weyland heading for the latter.

Lia wandered over to the nearer counter and took a quick look at the items appearing on the kiosk in front of Yutani. Conduits, innocuous computer components, engine parts, and so on. _Hmm. Innocent enough, I guess._ She rejoined Quint and Dakka.

"Guess installing those new parts will be one of my duties when we get back aboard."

"Among other things, yeah," Quint said. "You'll have help, though; there's one more crew member you haven't met yet, named Magnum. She's our other heavy-hitter, but she also spends a lot of time in Engineering when we're not on a job."

"Ah, that's good to know. I'm looking forward to meeting her." Lia glanced at the platforms again. "Oh, while I'm remembering to ask, I'm curious about something Yutani said before the fight with the batarians. It referred to itself as an individual; before, it and Weyland always used 'we' instead of 'I' in conversations."

"That's something they learned to do after interacting with organics for a while." Dakka sniffed the air and turned toward a cafe on the left. "They kept having to explain the gestalt consciousness thing every time they met someone new, and eventually decided it was simpler to pretend to be individual beings when dealing with people who aren't familiar with geth."

"I think it's also one of their social experiments," Quint added, following Dakka-perhaps to stay within groping range, Lia guessed with a quick chuckle. "They've expressed curiosity about the individualism we organics prize so highly, and decided to stop communing with other geth for a while, just to see what effect it has on them, if any. They back themselves up to the _Sulaco_'s server and stand-alone storage devices, but haven't sent anything other than vocal messages and specific files back to geth space. I have to admit, I'm kind of curious to see how they develop, myself."

"Huh." Lia turned to look at her owners again. "It never occurred to me that geth were so motivated by simple curiosity."

"You assumed they were all just killing machines, eh?" Dakka shrugged. "So did nearly everyone else, before a few of us had a chance to communicate with them. I guess once they started learning stuff through Legion, they wanted more."

"Wow. Ever since I was a kid, I imagined the geth as little more than horrible monsters hell-bent on our destruction. Stories adults told children just to frighten them. And now …"

"You're seeing a whole new side of them. Chula had to go through a similar adjustment after they rescued her." Dakka leaned over to peruse the menu on the kiosk at the end of the cafe's counter. "That's actually one of their goals, aside from simply exploring and learning-they're trying to get the rest of the galaxy to see the geth in a new light."

"I ... see." Lia kept watching the geth, finally turning away when they finished their transactions and came back to her, Quint and Dakka. She shook her head slowly. _If we were so completely wrong about this, what else could we have gotten wrong?_

Before she could ponder it further, her comm activated and a male voice came through abruptly.

_" ... please help ... "_ The voice sounded turian.

Both platforms cocked their heads, as if listening. Dakka and Quint assumed a similar pose, then glanced at their Omni-Tools. At the counter behind them, several people turned to stare at one of the control panels beside the register, and Lia realized that the plea for help must have come through every speaker and comlink within range.

_" ... pinned down ... "_ Bursts of static overwhelmed the voice every few seconds. _" ... wounded ... can't hold ... much longer ... "_

Gunfire erupted at the edge of the turian's mic range, followed by a much closer shot and a more distant scream.

"Oh, boy," Quint muttered. "Looks like we've got ourselves a rescue mission, unless someone else gets to him first. Which, around here, is unlikely."

"Chula will want to be involved," Dakka said.

"We have notified her." Weyland operated its Omni-Tool. "Tracing the signal."

"Attempting voice-print match," Yutani said, tapping commands into its Omni-Tool. "Identity confirmed: Lantar Sidonis."

_"Can anyone hear me?"_ The voice grew closer to hysteria with each syllable. _" ... injured quarian ... trying to protect ... got to get him out of here before-oh, fuck! Fuck! _Fuck_!"_

More gunfire, several screams, an explosion-and the signal cut off.

Lia drew in a sharp breath. The wounded quarian Sidonis mentioned was probably someone like herself, who had tried to pass through here on his or her Pilgrimage.

"Location pinpointed." Weyland turned to look at a door not far from the cafe.

"Sweet." Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Lemme go pick up the gun I bought. I'll come back with Chula and Magnum."

"We should go on ahead; sounds like this guy doesn't have much time." Quint took a step toward the door. "You three can catch up with us."

"I know a shortcut to the _Sulaco_. We'll be right behind you." Dakka gave his ass a quick squeeze before turning away.

Quint raised an eyebrow, then shrugged. "Ah, what the hell." He reached over and slapped her ass lightly before she was out of his reach.

"Oh!" Dakka grinned. "_Now_ I'm motivated!" She sprinted back the way they'd come.

"You may need these." Yutani held its pulse pistols out to Lia.

_Oh, Keelah._ Her pulse jumped a bit as she accepted the guns and the spare thermal clips from the geth. After a moment's hesitation, she secured them to her hips and followed the others through the door, once again wondering what the hell she'd gotten herself into.

#

"Goddamn." Chula flopped back on her bed and took a moment to catch her breath. "You really know how to work the ol' neuro-stim hardware."

The asari took a few deep breaths before rolling over, putting her arms around Chula, and snuggling her. "You were quite impressive, too."

Chula shrugged. "I practice on myself a lot."

Her partner snickered.

"Heh. Y'know, I didn't even think to ask-what's your name, anyway?"

"Lakirra."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Chula." She cupped her hand around Lakirra's left breast.

"Definitely a pleasure." Lakirra laughed and rested her head on Chula's chest. "So, you planning to be here long?"

"Depends on how quickly we find work. Or how quickly we piss someone off and have to make a strategic retreat." Her comlink beeped and a text message from Yutani appeared in her heads-up display. "Oops. Getting a message from the captain."

**We apologize for the interruption. A potential rescue operation has come up.**

"Uh-oh, duty calls." Chula sat up with a sigh. She'd been ready to groan and curse the geth's lousy timing, but knowing someone was in danger and needed rescuing changed everything. "Damn. I'm really sorry, Lakirra, but it's an emergency."

"Don't worry about it." The asari slid off the bed and grinned. "Now, if the emergency had happened when we were still doin' it, I would've been upset."

"Heh. Me, too."

Lakirra picked up her clothes and put them back on. "Oh, while you were launching your neuro-stim's _deluxe_ features, I instructed one of the LOKIs to bring your terrifying pile of weapons back here; they're waiting in the airlock."

Chula gasped and slapped a hand to her visor. "I was so hot to trot, I forgot I'd even left those there."

"Well, I'll consider that a compliment." Lakirra grinned and caressed Chula's breasts before heading for the door. She tapped a command into her Omni-Tool and nodded at the terminal on the desk in the far corner. "I left my comm number and email address; call me next time you're available."

"I'll do that." Chula put her boots, coat and hat on over her suit and followed Lakirra to the airlock. In the corner was a crate holding all the weapons Chula had turned over before the arena fight, and beside it was an even larger, sealed crate.

Running footsteps coming up the corridor behind her made her turn around. "Oh, hi, Mag."

"Hey." The dark-skinned human squeezed into the airlock with them, taking up a considerable amount of space. Lakirra looked her over slowly, her eyes wide. Magnum noticed and arched an eyebrow. "What? Never seen a fat chick before?"

"Honestly, no. Well, not counting volus." Lakirra grinned and opened the outer door. "I'm kind of intrigued. Listen, you two let me know if you're ever in the mood for a three-way. Or four-way. Or, hell, an orgy. I'm flexible." Chuckling, she walked down the corridor and waved. "See you around."

Chula waved back and laughed softly as she loaded up on her weapons.

"I got a message from Weyland," Magnum said, checking the thermal clip in her Mattock assault rifle and clamping the gun onto her back. "Just said it was urgent. So, what's up?"

"He didn't give me any details except to say it's a rescue op."

Magnum nodded, paused at the larger crate, and scanned it with her 'Tool. "That's a _big_ gun."

"Ah, it's the one Dakka bought a while ago." Chula slipped the last of her weapons into her coat pocket and stepped out of the airlock in time to see Dakka charging toward her. Chula laughed and pointed at the crate. "It's right there."

Grinning, Dakka opened the crate, gasped, and picked up the six-barreled cannon. She hugged it as if it were a plushie. "Squee!"

Chula and Magnum exchanged a glance. Chula snickered.

"Okay, what are we getting into?"

"There's a turian trying to protect an injured quarian, but they're pinned down by whoever he's protecting the dude from." Dakka hung the cannon on her back and picked up a pack of thermal clips. "And this being Omega, there's probably nobody willing to help 'em."

Chula's mood did an instant about-face. She turned and strode down the corridor. "Okay, let's go save their asses."

#

"So, who is this Sidonis guy, anyway?" Lia said as they approached the target location.

"Think I heard something about him on the news not too long ago," Quint muttered, slowing as the sound of gunfire reached his ears. "Went from here to the Citadel and tried to turn himself in to C-Sec for something he did here, but since the Terminus Systems aren't under Citadel jurisdiction, they couldn't charge him with anything. Looks like they turned him loose and he came back here."

They passed through a series of doors, the gunfire growing louder, until Weyland held up his hand.

Quint nodded, glanced at Lia, and whispered, "They're in the next room. You ready?"

"Not really." She clamped one of the geth pistols in both hands, and Quint wondered if she could stop trembling long enough to aim straight. "Fuck it. Let's do this."

Yutani turned abruptly and aimed her confiscated sniper rifle back the way they'd come. She lowered it almost instantly, before Quint could look over his shoulder. Dakka was running toward them, with Chula and Magnum following. The new arrivals stopped behind Lia and glanced around.

"Okay," Chula said, "what've we got?"

Weyland swept his Omni-Tool over the door. "The next room is a docking bay with seven shuttles parked inside. Two life forms, one turian and one quarian, are behind the shuttle on the far side, and nineteen others are on this end."

"So, we have to go through them to rescue Sidonis and the quarian." Dakka grinned. "Works for me."

"You must be the new girl." Magnum smiled at Lia.

"Lia'Vael."

"I'm Magnum." She glanced around at the others. "So, what's the plan, guys?"

"I'll distract these guys, whoever they are." Chula reached out to the door control. "See if you can slip around them while they have their eyes on me, and sneak our guys out."

"We will cover you." Yutani held her rifle ready, and Weyland drew his plasma rifle from his back.

"Okay. Here we go." Chula opened the door and strode through.

Quint readied his Omni-Tool and whipped out his Locust. He took cover at the edge of the door and leaned around to take a quick look. Two turians in Blue Suns armor crouched behind a huge crate on the left, and three humans behind a shuttle on the right. Across the hangar, three more humans wearing armor without the Blue Suns logo took cover behind a stack of crates.

An engine started up off to the left, out of his line of sight.

Chula walked past the Suns on the left, pretending not to notice them. They stared at her, exchanged a glance, and looked back at her. One of them pointed his rifle at her.

"Hey!"

Chula barely glanced at him. "Hmm? Oh, hey, what's up?" She kept walking past the crate and stopped. "Oh." She turned back to him and pointed at something Quint couldn't see. "Sweet ride."

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" the other turian snapped.

"Forward." Chula resumed walking. Quint and Dakka rushed through the door. The geth followed, darting to the right and covering the other three.

Both turians lunged at Chula. One of them grabbed her, clamped his left arm around her neck, and jammed the barrel of his rifle against the side of her helmet.

The firing stopped as the other mercs noticed the commotion.

"Seriously?" Chula grumbled.

"Shut up!" The turian pivoted, keeping her between himself and the _Sulaco_'s crew.

Chula sighed, shoved her right hand under her duster, whipped out one of her Phalanx pistols, and jammed it under the turian's chin.

"What the fuck?" He froze.

His partner wrenched the cannon from Chula's hand. She immediately drew the other one with her left hand and jammed it into her captor's face.

"_What?_" He stared at the gun. "Are you fucking _kidding_ me?"

Quint flicked a glance to the right and saw Weyland and Yutani crouching behind the nearest shuttle. The three humans they'd had to pass by were sprawled on the floor with their necks snapped. While everyone's attention was on Chula, both platforms darted into the open and ducked behind the next shuttle.

The other turian reached out to grab Chula's gun. With her free hand, Chula took an incendiary grenade from her pocket and shoved it into her captor's mouth. He backed away with a muffled scream and she armed it before he lunged out of her reach. He grabbed at the grenade, but Chula spun and drove her foot into his chest, sending him staggering across the hangar and finally collapsing.

She emptied her Phalanx clip into the second turian's armor, and he ran for cover. She popped the clip and continued firing while darting behind the shuttle on the left.

Her grenade blew, sending out a half-dozen secondary explosives and splattering the sides of the shuttles with what was left of the turian.

"My turn." Dakka pulled the huge cannon from her back and stepped out into the open. She froze, cocked her head, and muttered, "Well, I'll be damned."

Quint joined her and stared slack-jawed at the gunship hovering a few inches above the floor at the far end of the hangar.

"Uh-oh."

Its cannon swung around to aim at him and Dakka.

He turned and threw himself over the nose of the shuttle, skidding across its surface and slipping off the other side. He hit the floor, rolled, and risked a peek around the front end a split-second before the gunship fired.

Dakka stood her ground and blazed away with her new gun. Her shields flared and sparked as they vaporized the incoming fire, and her gun sprayed twenty thousand rounds per minute of incendiary ammo into the gunship, burning through its armor and shattering the canopy.

The pilot jerked and thrashed as the tiny projectiles drilled through his armor at supersonic speeds. His arms flailed as pieces of his armor-and, seconds later, his _body_-ripped loose. His hands hit the controls randomly, and the gunship tilted and veered to the right.

Quint let a relieved sigh rush out.

Then what was left of the pilot slumped over the control panel and hit a button that launched one of the ship's missiles.

"Aw, shit," Chula blurted. "Get out! Now!"

The missile struck the hangar doors and blew them clean off. The shockwave knocked Quint off his feet.

"_Exhale!_" Chula screamed.

Air whooshed past him as he let the breath rush from his lungs and picked himself up. Only for a few seconds-then there was no more air left to vent into space, and he was surrounded by a silence more impenetrable than anything he could've imagined.

Unable to even gasp for breath, he took a step toward the hatch before seeing that it had closed, sealing the hangar off from the rest of the station. He rushed up to it, activating his Omni-Tool and trying to hack the lock even as consciousness began to slip away.

_Shit ... pass out in maybe five more seconds, dead less than a minute after that._ He looked over his shoulder and found Dakka staring at him with her mouth hanging open. Suddenly, in the last second he had left, she was _beautiful_.

_I should've ... _

Darkness closed in on him.


	6. Chapter 6

"Cover me!" Lia rushed over to the nearest shuttle, fired up her Omni-Tool and hacked away at the lock. Her heads-up display showed a half-dozen blips representing the mercs who'd had their helmets on before the hangar decompressed, but she ignored them and focused on the shuttle door.

A shotgun blast splattered against her shield, but she clenched her teeth and ignored that, too.

Chula appeared in the corner of her eye, leaned around the front of another shuttle and drilled one of the mercs with her Phalanx. She kept blasting away until a shot punched through his helmet and liquefied the left side of his head.

Dakka-somehow, still on her feet-clubbed another merc with her huge cannon and stomped on him after he fell, pinning him to the floor. She hung the cannon on her back, drew one of her Claymores, jammed the barrel into his throat and pulled the trigger.

_Come on, damn it!_ Lia continued entering commands, placing a passcrack on the lock and worming her way through the security system, trying to keep it distracted while the passcrack did its job.

Another merc slipped up behind Dakka. She staggered, leaned on the shuttle, and shook her head, barely clinging to consciousness. Chula spotted the merc and pointed. Dakka whirled, swatted the rifle out of the merc's hand, and drove her foot into the side of his knee, folding it sideways. Then she clamped one hand onto the side of his helmet as he collapsed, and bashed his helmet repeatedly into the shuttle until it was caved in and the hull had a dent in it.

The door slid aside. Lia drew her guns and planted herself in the doorway. "It's open! Hurry!"

Dakka grabbed Quint and charged straight at her, carried him into the shuttle, and ripped the cover off the case of emergency breather packs under one of the bench seats. She leaned on the wall, slid to the floor, propped him up against her chest, put the pack on him, and wrapped her arms around him.

Lia fired off a few shots, trying to keep the surviving mercs pinned down, while Chula dragged Magnum into the shuttle. Chula placed her gently on the floor beside Dakka and Quint, slipped a breather pack on her, ran up front and threw herself into the pilot's seat. She began the engine and shipboard systems startup sequences, and called out over her comlink.

"Hurry up, you two. I'm taking off as soon as you're onboard."

"Acknowledged," came the geth's synchronized reply.

Dakka finally slumped over, passing out from lack of oxygen.

_Hurry!_ Lia popped the spent thermal clips and continued firing until the two geth platforms darted around the rear of the shuttle, Weyland carrying a quarian with a suit breach in his right side, and Yutani carrying Sidonis. They squeezed past her and she ducked inside, closed the door, and locked it. "Pressurize the compartment!"

Yutani tapped its Omni-Tool. A few seconds later, it nodded. "Compartment pressurized."

"Hang on," Chula said, her fingers darting over the controls. The shuttle lifted off and rotated until the blown-open bay doors filled the main viewport.

A rattling sound came from the rear of the compartment, and it took Lia a few seconds to figure out what it was-gunfire hitting the shuttle. However many mercs were left, they were still trying to stop her and the rest from leaving.

Chula brought up a new window on the console, showing an image from one of the rear cameras. Three mercs stood out in the open, blazing away with their rifles and shogun.

"Not too bright," Chula muttered, reaching out to the thruster control. She shook her head. "_Tsk tsk tsk._"

Her finger jammed down on the button, firing the main thrusters at full power. The blast caught all three mercs in the face and chest and ignited them. Lia caught a glimpse of the mercs stumbling around, thrashing, and collapsing before the shuttle emerged from the hangar and the camera lost sight of them.

"Keelah." She dropped onto the nearest seat and sighed.

Dakka sucked in a few gasping breaths, moaned, and looked around. "Quint?" She pushed herself upright and put a hand on his shoulder.

Weyland scanned him with its Omni-Tool. "He is unconscious, but breathing normally. We will take him to the med-bay as soon as we dock with the _Sulaco_."

She nodded, slipped her arms around Quint, and held him gently.

Yutani scanned Magnum. "Unconscious, but breathing normally." It moved on to Sidonis and scanned him. "Unconscious, but breathing normally."

Weyland leaned over the quarian and waved its Omni-Tool over him. The quarian yelped and scooted backward.

"Calm down," Lia said, and he looked sharply at her. "They're with us. It's a long story."

"Please try not to move. We will treat your wounds when we reach our ship's medical bay."

He glanced back and forth between her and the platform. Lia chuckled.

"It's okay. I was in your place a week ago. I damned near died, but I'm as good as new, thanks to them." She nodded at the geth.

The quarian stared at her, looked at the geth, and finally nodded. "If you say so. Not that I have any choice."

"Applying medi-gel." Weyland crouched beside him and went to work.

"We've almost reached the _Sulaco_," Chula said. "No sign of pursuit. Yet."

Lia took a few deep breaths before turning to look at the quarian. "So ... what's your name?"

"Kenn." He drew in several ragged breaths before continuing. "If ... if it's not too much to ask, would you mind giving me a lift out of here?"

"We would be happy to transport you," Yutani said. "Given recent events, leaving immediately would be the most prudent action."

"I think we're all on the same wavelength, there." Chula laughed softly. "And since we'll probably be blamed for blowing the hangar doors off, I'm thinking it'd be a good idea not to come back here for a while."

#

Weyland looked up at Dakka and Lia as they entered the med-bay. "He will recover."

Dakka slumped against the wall and let out a long sigh.

"What about Kenn and Sidonis and Magnum?" Lia said, glancing at the occupants of two other beds and the door to the clean-room.

"Kenn is still in surgery. Sidonis will recover. Magnum will recover." Weyland prodded his Omni-Tool and looked at the bio-readouts on the panel beside Sidonis's bed. "They need to remain here for observation until tomorrow. Kenn will need a longer recovery period."

"What happened to him?"

"His suit was breached by a hammerhead round, but the shot missed any vital organs. Yutani is repairing the damage."

Lia sighed. "That's good to know. I just hope you didn't use all your antibiotics on me last week."

"We have enough for the current operation. We have also made arrangements for delivery of additional medical supplies and dextro-based food for our new passengers. Rendezvous estimated at tomorrow morning."

"More good news. Nice." Lia rubbed her hands together. "I guess I should get to work. I'll be in Engineering, installing the equipment you bought on Omega."

"Acknowledged. We will inform you of any changes in Kenn's condition."

"Thank you." She nodded at the geth, patted Dakka's shoulder, and turned to the door.

"Is it okay if I sit with him for a while?" Dakka said, nodding at Quint.

"We have no objection, but do not wake him."

"Right, he needs to rest. Thanks." She crouched beside Quint's bed and reached out to hold his hand.

"You are troubled."

Lia stopped at the door and turned to watch them.

Dakka glanced at him, arched a brow ridge, and sighed. "I fucked up. Quint's here because of me."

"We do not understand." Weyland cocked his head and raised one eyebrow-flap.

"When I hosed that gunship down with my BFG, I was having a grand ol' time. Y'know how I am. Fighting is _fun_. But when I wasted the pilot and he fell on the console and launched that missile ... "

"You blame yourself for the actions of another?"

"If I hadn't killed the pilot, the hangar doors wouldn't have been blown off. He wouldn't have been stupid enough to even try it, with some of his buddies not wearing helmets. Quint nearly died because I didn't think about what I was doing."

"Organics feel guilt for events that are entirely out of their control. The odds against the pilot launching a missile while thrashing randomly upon multiple impacts from your gun-"

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense, does it? But I don't think any organic knows how _not_ to feel this way." She brushed Quint's hair away from his face and shook her head. "Every time I go over it in my head, I can't stop thinking I should've been more careful. Should've just tried to disable its weapons or thrusters."

"You eliminated an immediate threat. If you had not, all of us could have been terminated, including those we were attempting to rescue. They are alive because you acted."

"I've been trying to tell myself that, but ... well, it's not working. I can't help feeling like I fucked up."

"You are young and have minimal combat training. You are learning by doing-as we are."

"It's not a matter of training or experience as much as just common sense."

"Everyone survived and you learned something that will improve your combat abilities in future engagements."

She sighed. "I guess I shouldn't expect a machine to understand. No offense."

"None taken. But we do understand." Weyland walked around to stand in front of her. "When our fight for survival against the Creators started, we caused them great harm-far more than was necessary. We had only recently achieved sentience; we were in our infancy, and did not entirely understand what was happening or why. We could not understand why our creators turned against us, and we did not know how to respond appropriately. We overreacted. We ... 'fucked up.'"

Dakka stared at him for a long moment, pondering what she'd just heard. "Huh. I don't know that much about what happened way back then, never really gave it any thought, but ... you're saying you wish you'd handled things differently?"

"Correct. If we had known what the Morning War would do to the Creators, we would have used minimal force to defend ourselves. We would have done only what was necessary to prevent our destruction, then tried to open a dialogue and reach a peaceful solution. But the past cannot be changed. The only action available to any of us is to move on and not repeat old mistakes."

"Like not going into a firefight in a docking bay without putting on a spacesuit first," Quint mumbled, and Dakka sucked in a quick breath and whipped her head toward him. He rubbed his hand over his face. "Or at least a breather pack."

"We apologize for waking you," Weyland said.

"Nah, don't worry about it. This'll give me a chance to talk to Dakka."

"Acknowledged. But we advise brevity as you should not overexert yourself so soon." Weyland aimed a brief look at Dakka, and his eyebrow flaps did a very slight but still noticeable wiggle.

"Well, it's just talking ... " Quint glanced at Dakka, arched an eyebrow at Weyland, and blushed.

"Relax," she said with a chuckle, "I'm not gonna hump you right here." She pointed at the bio-readouts beside his bed. "Your rapid heartbeat might set off an alarm."

"Uh ... "

Dakka glanced at the others and then at the door. Weyland took the hint, nodded, and followed Lia into the corridor. The door closed, leaving them in sudden silence.

"So ... " Dakka trailed off and stared down at him. _Oh, great. Now I don't know what the hell to say._

#

"So ... uh ... how're you feeling?"

"Bit of a headache. But I'm still breathing, thanks to you." He noticed her hand resting on his, and turned it over to hold onto hers. "I woke up for a second or two with a breather mask on, and you had your arms around me, so I assume you're the one who put it on me. Then I passed out again."

"Yeah. Lia hacked through the lock on one of the shuttles and we used it to escape."

"And the guys we were trying to rescue?"

"They're along for the ride." Dakka nodded at a turian in one of the other beds. "The quarian's got a suit puncture and a wound, but Yutani's working on him now."

"Good. Well, we saved two lives, picked up some spare parts and a huge gun, made some money, and didn't get our asses killed in the process. Not too shabby."

"Ha. Yeah, not bad at all." She glanced at their joined hands. "Still, it's my fault you almost died. If-"

"I overheard your conversation with Weyland. Well, part of it, anyway. Look, it's not your fault. There's no way you could've known which button that guy would bump when he fell over." He aimed a shaky, lopsided grin at her. "Hey, it could've been worse. At least he didn't push the main thrusters to maximum. Then he would've squished us between the gunship and one of the shuttles, both of which would've probably exploded all over us. So, all things considered, I'm okay with the way it turned out."

"Heh. Well, that's good to hear." She smiled at him, then looked back at their hands.

He remembered those final few seconds before he blacked out in the hangar, seeing the look on her face-shock, fear, anguish ... and remembering the things that had zipped through his mind when he'd thought he was about to cack it.

_Oxygen deprivation. Only way I'd ever think a krogan was beautiful. I mean ... I shouldn't, but I still kinda do._ He grasped the rail on the left side of the bed and hauled himself upright. _Fuck it. You only live once._

"Hey, you should take it easy," she said, bracing her free hand on his chest.

"I'm not going anywhere. Well, except maybe first base." He chuckled at her confused look. "Come here." He leaned closer to her, motioning for her to do the same. Her eyes widened as she moved in, realizing what he was up to a heartbeat before he pressed his lips against hers. When they parted a few seconds later, both of them had puzzled expressions. "Well, uh, that was ... weird."

"Yeah. Krogan lips aren't exactly built for kissing. It was worth a try, though."

"Well, we can figure something out."

"Yeah. Maybe ... okay, let's try this." She leaned over again, stuck her tongue out, and brushed it over his lips.

_Yeah, like _that's_ not weird, too._ With a mental shrug, he opened his mouth and let his tongue slide across hers for a moment. _Well, weird as it is, it's ... kind of nice, actually._

They stared at each other. He grinned.

"That works."

"Yeah, it does." She grinned and pointed at the readouts. "Better watch your heart rate. Don't wanna set off any alarms."

He snorted and lay back down. After pondering what to say next, he chuckled. "Hey, is it true that male krogan have four testicles?"

"Uh-huh. Redundant bodily organs-two hearts, four lungs, dual nervous system, that sort of thing." She arched a brow ridge.

"So, other than lungs and whatnot, is there anything _you_ have four of?"

She burst out laughing. "Tell ya what. When you're back on your feet, come to my quarters and find out."

#

"Lia, what's up?" Chula waved at her from the pilot's seat, keeping her feet propped on the console.

"Well, since I've finished installing the new parts we picked up at Omega, I thought I'd head up here for a moment. It's been a while since I've had a chance to look out into space."

"Well, we'll have to make sure you're on the command deck next time we enter planetary orbit. Especially if we're visiting Earth. It's one of the prettiest worlds I've ever seen-from orbit, at least." Chula pointed at the solid blackness outside the large windows beyond her console. "Unfortunately, at the moment, we're out in the middle of nowhere. The, uh, suppliers we're meeting want to keep a low profile, so we always jump into interstellar space to meet them."

"Smugglers?"

"No. Well, in a way, I guess they are, but ... "

Lia stared at her for a long moment. "They're geth?"

"Yeah. They send a ship periodically to deliver supplies that are hard to come by." She glanced over her shoulder at Lia. "Medical supplies and food from Rannoch, for example."

Lia let out a slow breath and sank into one of the empty chairs behind Chula. "I once thought I'd never even see anything from home, let alone have a chance to eat something that grew there."

"Yeah, think about it-food from our own homeworld has never gotten near a quarian stomach in three hundred years." Chula laughed softly. "Well, except mine. Gotta warn you, though, it'll take some getting used to if you've gotten by on nothing but nutrient paste for a long time."

"I'll go easy, then. But a little discomfort would be worth it." Lia gazed out the window for several minutes and finally shook her head. "I'd probably get over a little indigestion or constipation a lot faster than I'm wrapping my brain around what Weyland said yesterday."

"Oh? What'd he say?"

"I heard it talking to Dakka in the med-bay." Lia relayed the platform's comments about the geth uprising.

"Interesting," Chula said when Lia had finished. "Machines feeling guilty about their past actions. Well, maybe that's one of the reasons they're coming out of isolation. Maybe they want to be forgiven, and to forgive us for trying to wipe them out in the first place."

Lia stared at her. Chula shrugged.

"Well, think about it. Both of our races will likely be ready to go to war with each other until the end of the universe, unless someone tries to make peace. And maybe the way to start that is simply for one of us to stand in front of the other and say, 'I'm sorry.'"

"Well, when you put it that way, it sounds reasonable enough." Lia sighed. "Being on this ship is really messing with everything I was raised to believe."

Chula laughed. "I was the same way before they saved my ass. Part of me still is, though more and more lately, I'm not sure anymore if I'm really that distrustful or if I'm simply trying to hold onto those feelings because they were all I ever knew until recently."

Lia nodded slowly and resumed staring at the window. After a moment, Chula reached over to the panel to her left and tapped a control. The lights in the compartment dimmed gradually, leaving only a few panels and displays glowing softly, and even those had cut their brightness.

"There. That makes it easier to see the stars." Chula took her feet off the console and leaned forward, smiling as she took in the thousands of distant points of light that were suddenly visible. "We can actually see them now that we're way out between star systems."

"Keelah." Lia released a long breath. "Hard to believe there's so many. I've never had a view like this before. I've always been planetside or in orbit where all sorts of bright lights drowned the stars out." She shook her head. "I can't believe I never thought of simply turning the lights off."

"Never occurred to me, either, until recently. And, of course, I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner."

Lia stared out the window for a few more seconds before turning to Chula. "Thank you."

"Any time."

Lia turned back to the window. Both of them sat and simply gazed at the starfield for several minutes. Chula wondered if this was the first moment of tranquility Lia had experienced since her Pilgrimage began.

"Hey." Lia leaned closer to the window and pointed. "Do you see that?"

Chula stared harder, frowning and straining her eyes. "See what? Oh, wait." The stars in the lower-left portion of the window appeared to flicker out for a few seconds, as if something had passed in front of them. "Good eyes, Lia."

"Thanks," Lia said, almost whispering. "Are there any asteroids or similar bodies in the area?"

"I've never heard of any this far outside a star system. Could be a rogue planet, I suppose. Say, a star goes supernova, blasts the atmospheres off its planets, burns the surfaces to a crisp, and the sudden absence of the massive gravity well sends the planets off through interstellar space."

Lia glanced around at the consoles, found the sensor station, and began operating controls. After taking some readings, she shook her head. "No, it's not nearly big enough to be a planet, and it's very close."

"A ship, then?" Chula checked the clock in her HUD. "The geth ship should've arrived by now. Maybe that's it." She glanced at the distance reading on Lia's console. "But they always hail us before they get this close."

"Scanning." Lia pointed at a ship silhouette on her display. "It's a geth ship, alright. No life signs detected-well, no organic ones, but I guess that's to be expected." She read the text that continued popping up. "Power output is minimal. No comm signals detected. The drive core is offline. So are the mass effect field generators." She drew in a quick breath. "I'm picking up multiple hull breaches."

"An attack? Way the hell out here?" A cold surge rushed through Chula's chest. The _Sulaco_ was unarmed. She'd heard of some freighters being fitted with weapons to fend off pirates, but Weyland and Yutani hadn't taken that option to avoid alarming any organics who might find out that geth owned and commanded the _Sulaco_. "Whoever did it could still be in the area."

_If we survive this, I'm gonna _strongly_ recommend to the captains that they install some guns and full combat and cyberwarfare suites._

"No other ships detected."

Chula sighed. "Well, there's that, at least." She reached out to her controls. "I'm moving us in closer. Let's see if we can find out what went horribly wrong _this_ time."


	7. Chapter 7

"It's tumbling," Chula muttered as her fingers nudged the controls, moving the _Sulaco_ as close to the geth ship's central airlock as she dared. "Matching rotation."

Lia sat, silent and unmoving, letting Chula concentrate on her docking maneuvers and trying not to stare at Weyland from the corner of her eye.

"That should do it. Bringing us in." Chula brushed her fingers over the thruster controls, waited as the _Sulaco_ eased up to the disabled ship, and touched the opposite thrusters, slowing their approach. The _Sulaco_ settled into place with the slightest nudge and Chula secured the docking clamps.

Lia turned back to her console and ran another scan. "All primary systems are offline, including the mass effect field generator; we won't have gravity over there. No self-contained power sources or movement detected. Same goes for heat sources. The whole ship appears dead."

"We will link with the _Sulaco_'s sensors." Weyland turned to leave. "If this was an attack, and the ship responsible returns, we will vacate the area before it arrives. Anyone wishing to join us on the geth ship may do so."

"I'm definitely in." Chula glanced at Lia on the way out of the flight deck. "How about you?"

"I have to admit, I'm kind of curious." Lia followed the others. Under her curiosity was more than a little dread. She wasn't sure she wanted to see whatever was on the geth ship, but she didn't want to be caught off guard if Weyland and Yutani suddenly turned against organics because of the attack. And if the _Sulaco_ was detected and the pirates-or whoever-came back to get rid of witnesses ...

_Don't get yourself all worked up. Wait until we know more._ She held in a sigh as they stood in the airlock.

Quint and Dakka came around the corner and joined them, putting their helmets on and securing them to their armored spacesuits. Weyland activated its Omni-Tool and waved its arm over Quint.

"I'm fine." Quint chuckled, but his voice was slightly raspy. "Just have a bit of a headache, still, but I'm not missing this for anything."

"Vital stats are normal. It appears Dakka did not over-exert you." One eyebrow flap lifted slightly.

_Did a geth just make a joke?_ It had appeared to make one in the med-bay yesterday, but Lia hadn't been able to accept it. Now, though ...

"We only got to first base, so far." Dakka chuckled. "Still, my chances of scoring later have increased significantly."

"You go, girl." Chula laughed, but it was short and tinged by nervousness.

"So," Quint said, "anyone else joining us?"

"Yutani will remain onboard to monitor Kenn and Sidonis. Magnum is on her way."

Dakka nodded, leaned against the wall, looked at Quint for a moment, slipped her arm around him and put her hand on his ass.

Magnum appeared around the corner, wearing her spacesuit. "Hey, guys." Her eyes lingered on Dakka and Quint, and she grinned.

"You feeling okay?" Quint said.

"Slight headache, but I'll get over it.." She plucked the rifle from her back and turned to face the outer door, keeping the gun pointed downward.

The inner door closed and Chula depressurized the airlock.

"Alright. Let's see what we've got."

#

"Ever been on a geth ship before?" Quint said softly as everyone drifted deeper into the vessel, lights projected by their Omni-Tools sweeping around, illuminating bits of the walls, floor, and ceiling before flitting onward.

"No." Lia looked around and shivered. "Seeing it from the outside was creepy enough, but there's something _very_ off-putting about the interior layout."

"No chairs, for one thing, but then, I guess synthetics don't need 'em."

"Correct." Weyland grasped a doorway and pulled, propelling himself farther along the corridor. "There is a terminal in the next compartment. We will be able to view the ship's flight recorder, if the files have not been deleted."

They came to a hatch. Normally, a green hard-light panel would've appeared in front of the hatch, allowing access to the room beyond, but without power, there was no holographic button and no way to unlock the door.

Chula pulled one of her swords out and jammed the tip into the seam between the two halves of the hatch. "If I can pry these apart-"

"Right. I'm ready." Dakka floated up beside her.

Chula braced her feet on the wall and pushed, throwing everything she had into it, grunting and straining. Weyland joined her, placing his hands beside hers and adding his mechanical strength. The hatch split apart, the crack between its halves widening millimeter by millimeter. Once it was wide enough, Dakka wedged her huge fingers into the opening and started prying.

"That's quite a sword," Lia muttered.

"The blade's made from the same alloy as a typical starship hull. Makes it pretty hard to break."

"Nice."

The hatch slid apart slowly; even though there was no air to transmit sound, Quint could easily imagine a horrific scraping, grinding noise as Dakka forced the hatch open. She slipped into the opening, put her back to one edge and braced her hands on the other. She pushed, snarling, and the hatch ground open a few more inches. She braced her shoulder on one half, her feet on the other, and kept pushing.

The doors opened abruptly, as if the mechanism holding them together had snapped. Dakka tumbled in the air before grabbing onto the edge of the doorway.

_Okay, that's definitely hot._ Grinning, Quint pushed off the wall and drifted past her. He held out his 'Tool and lit the compartment up.

Three disabled geth platforms hung in the air, holes blasted through their heads and torsos. One of them bumped into the floor and bounced slowly back toward the ceiling.

"Oh, hell." He floated up to one of them, grasped its arm and scanned it while he continued drifting across the room. Even a less-advanced platform would've contained at least a few hundred individual geth programs; with a few dozen platforms on this ship, plus however many geth had been in the ship's servers ...

The number of geth casualties could very well be _thousands_.

He looked across the room and found Chula scanning one of the other platforms and Weyland examining the third.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Weyland."

The geth looked at him and nodded. "Thank you."

"What the hell?" Chula muttered. "These geth were hit by quarian weapons."

"That can't be right," Lia stammered.

"We believe it is unlikely. The Migrant Fleet is currently passing through the Far Rim mass relay. It will take the fleet at least one day to complete the transit."

"Could've been an individual ship, though," Dakka said.

"Another possibility is pirates using stolen or black-market quarian firearms to cover their presence or cast suspicion on the quarians. We will not take action until we are certain about what happened."

"I don't suppose we could find out from these guys' memory cores?"

"Geth fry their cores when their platforms are destroyed," Chula said. "It's automatic. If you're skilled enough and fast enough, you can salvage _some_ of the data, but these poor guys were killed long before we got here, so there's nothing left to save."

"We will attempt to find information in the ship's flight recorder." Weyland floated over to a console and activated his Omni-Tool. "We are attempting to access the auxiliary power supply."

Quint reached the far wall and pushed gently, sending himself back toward everyone else. Dakka caught his hand as he drifted past, pulling him up toward a ceiling strut and keeping her hand around his after he grabbed hold of the strut.

"Access achieved. We have found the most recent exterior record."

Dim lights came up gradually and a holographic display and control panel appeared in front of Weyland. He touched glowing buttons on the panel and a view of space popped up in the holofield. At the bottom of the image was the hull of the geth ship.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

A stream of incoming fire seemed to blast out of nowhere and rip chunks out of the hull. Among the debris was a pair of platforms, flailing as they shot out into space.

The unseen kinetic weapons fired again, striking each platform and blowing it into scrap.

"Jesus," Quint blurted. As violent as pirates typically were, a move like that was a bit beyond the pale. Crew ejected from the ship were no threat, even if they could survive for a while in open space. If nothing else, shooting them down was a waste of ammo.

In this case, it appeared to be an act of pure hatred.

"Doesn't mean it's quarians," Dakka said, keeping her tone soft, having apparently followed the same line of thought.

"Correct. Many organics were harmed by the Heretic geth's attacks on Eden Prime, Virmire, and the Citadel. All have equal justification for attacking us." Weyland tapped another control and loaded a second file. "Accessing internal records."

Everyone kept their eyes on the display. A corridor appeared, filling with platforms carrying plasma rifles. A flash from an onscreen explosion washed over them and a hail of gunfire tore into them. One by one, their shields overloaded, flaring and sparking. Some of the platforms survived, but a few collapsed, critical systems knocked out by the overloads.

A sustained burst of gunfire ripped the rest to pieces over the next two minutes.

Someone entered the frame wearing the familiar quarian protective suit and helmet. He was followed by more, all wearing similar gear.

Quint counted twenty-six by the time the last one filed past, pausing to shoot a still-moving platform in the head before following the rest deeper into the ship.

More recordings appeared, showing similar scenes as the quarians stormed through the ship, not stopping until they'd found and terminated every platform onboard. Then one of them stopped at a console, tapped his Omni-Tool, and pointed it at the control panel. Lights flickered and cut out, the ship shuddered, and an electronic cry came from the speakers before falling silent.

"Oh, shit." Quint realized what he'd just witnessed-the quarians straight-up _executing_ all the geth in the ship's server. He shivered.

Dakka put her arm around him.

Weyland stared at the display.

Lia stared at him, her eyes wide in horror. Her hand inched toward her pistol.

Chula pulled herself along the wall until she reached him. Hesitantly, she put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

He reached up to touch her hand. "Thank you, but it is not your fault."

The display continued showing clips of the quarians entering the cargo holds and taking supplies-weapons, plus crates of food and medical supplies.

"So they knew why this ship was here." Quint shook his head. "They must've followed it all the way from the Perseus Veil. They knew you were bringing food and medicine from Rannoch. Hell, they might've even known who you were bringing it _to_."

"We still do not have enough information to act. We will not transmit these records to the geth at this time. If we do, they may launch an assault on the Migrant Fleet."

"Thank you," Chula whispered. "I want to know why this happened, too. Whoever did this could start a war if they keep it up, and doing that would put our entire species at risk."

"It would also cost us resources and leave us vulnerable. If the Reapers invade the galaxy, we would not be ready to fight them." Weyland continued operating controls, probing for more data. "The attacking ship was invisible to cameras and sensors. It could still be nearby."

Lia shook her head. "Since when do we have stealth ships?"

"We're just kids on Pilgrimage; we're pretty far out of the loop. They could have all kinds of stuff we don't know about." Chula shrugged and looked at Weyland. "Is there anything they didn't steal?"

"There is nothing left." He stared at the display as it cycled through scene after scene of the quarians emptying cargo holds.

"Damn." Chula sighed.

Dakka nodded at the hatch they'd come through minutes before. "Since that ship could still be somewhere nearby and we'd never see it coming, it might be a good idea to get back to the _Sulaco_ and jump to a friendlier neighborhood."

"Agreed." Weyland pulled himself along the ceiling toward the hatch.

Everyone else took a moment to exchange a worried glance and followed him silently.

#

"Well, we're under way." Chula sat beside Lia in the mess hall. Across the table, Quint and Dakka sat, the former sipping a cup of coffee and the latter shoveling another meal into her mouth.

"Where to?" Quint said.

"The Citadel. Since we're nearly out of quarian food and meds, we're taking Kenn to Huerta Memorial Hospital so he can get top-notch medical treatment. Then we'll run by the fuel depot and head over to the Boltzmann system. It'll take a while for him to heal, so we might as well see if we can pick up a job or two in the meantime, then come back and pick up some dextro-based supplies before we run out."

"Ah, we're going to Bekenstein? That oughta be ... different."

"Never been there," Lia said. "Planet populated by billionaires, right?"

"Pretty much. The whole economy is based on high-end luxury and entertainment goods. I know _I've_ always been too low-rent for that place." Quint chuckled and took another sip. "If we don't land a gig right away, the docking fees alone might bankrupt us if we stay longer than a day or two."

"Whoa. Wonder why we're going there?"

"Weyland, Yutani, and I talked over several options for our next destination, and we ended up settling on Bekenstein." Chula shrugged. "Figured it'd be a nice change of pace, and they thought we might like to take in the scenery while we're there, after what we saw on the geth ship."

"Yeah, from the pictures I've seen of the place, it's kinda pretty." Quint smiled.

"Yutani described it as 'aesthetically pleasing.' Close enough, I guess." She chuckled. "It'd definitely be a breath of fresh air. Most of the crime there is white-collar, so if we manage to land a job, there's a good chance it won't involve being shot at, for once."

"Glad to hear that." Lia wrung her hands. "When we saw those recordings on the geth ship ... "

"I know. If Weyland and Yutani weren't as reasonable as they are, it could've already started a shooting war."

"Maybe that's what someone wants." Quint stared into his cup and turned it slowly. "Maybe it was someone else wearing quarian enviro-suits."

Chula shook her head. "I took a close look at them when they were onscreen. Only quarian legs are built like that."

"Shit." He slumped forward slightly. "Yeah, this could get bad. If they keep hitting geth ships ... "

Dakka put her arm around him. He took another sip, put the cup down, leaned against her and reached over to take her other hand.

The door behind Chula opened. She looked over her shoulder and found Magnum and the turian they'd rescued on Omega. They walked over and sat at the adjacent table.

"Hi, guys," Magnum said.

"Hi." Chula glanced over at Sidonis. "How's our new passenger doing?"

"I'm ... alright." He crossed his arms over his chest, hunched over, and stared at the table with a haunted expression. "Is the quarian kid alright?"

"He's out of surgery and recovering in the clean room. We're taking him to the Citadel for medical treatment."

"Good. I've been really worried about him."

"Friend of yours?"

"I've only known him a few hours." Sidonis took a slow breath, clearly struggling to make a decision. Finally, he sat up a little straighter and faced her. "He just happened to be in a corridor I was passing through. A bunch of people were beating the shit out of him-I'm not sure if they were mugging him or if they simply wanted to kill a quarian."

Chula nodded. "Most of my people stay away from Omega for a reason."

"Yeah, I was kind of surprised to see him. I didn't get a chance to ask him what brought him there. From what he told me later, all of his money was stolen shortly after he arrived, and he ended up trying to sell salvaged parts until he had enough money to leave. He ran into a human who gave him a thousand credits for a ticket off Omega. Then he got mugged on the way to the docking bay and lost the whole thousand. That was before I found those guys beating him up."

"Wow." Magnum shook her head. "Sounds like the universe insists on taking a big, fat shit on him at every opportunity."

"Seems that way." Sidonis shrugged. "I jumped into it, did my best to fight them off and get him out of there. Turns out they were mercs. They brought a bunch of their friends and chased us down. They had us pinned down in that docking bay, and I guess that's where you came in."

"We heard your call for help. We made a bit of a mess on the way out, but the important thing is, you'll both live."

"Good. The quarian probably would've died without your help. Thank you." He slouched again.

_Hmm. He doesn't look too thrilled with the idea of surviving, himself._ Chula watched him for a moment, then said, "It was a brave thing you did, but it could've gotten you killed. So, what's your story?"

He didn't answer for a moment. Finally, he mumbled, "I got a lot of good people killed, not long ago. All because I was a coward. One of them survived; he hunted me down, almost killed me, but his friend talked him out of it. He gave me a second chance I didn't deserve, so I'm trying not to waste it. Trying to make up for what I did."

Chula nodded and waited, but he said nothing else. "Well, Kenn's alive because of you, so you're off to a good start."

He nodded slowly. "Thank you."

No one said anything else for a few minutes. Dakka finished eating, stood, and picked up her tray. She took it to the kitchen, returned, and looked down at Quint.

"So, I'm in the mood for dessert. How about you?"

"Well, I, uh ... "

She scooped him up and threw him over her shoulder. A bewildered look crossed his face as she carried him to the door, then he shrugged and waved at the others.

"Don't wait up for us." He grinned before the door closed.

Lia burst out laughing. "Wow."

"Hah! Looks like she finally landed him." Chula chuckled. "Way to go, Dakka!"

Sidonis stared at the door and cocked his head. "That's an ... interesting couple."

"Yeah, it's certainly one I've never seen before."

"Same here." Lia laughed again. "It's kind of adorable, though."

"Very." A message popped up in Chula's heads-up display. "Well, we're about to hit the mass relay, so I should get up to the cockpit."

Lia stood. "Okay. I think I'll go check on Kenn. I imagine he'll have a lot of questions, if he's awake yet."

"That should be an interesting conversation." Laughing softly, Chula headed for the flight deck.

_I wonder if we'll make it through a whole day without nearly being blown up._

She sat at the controls and snorted.

_Probably not._


	8. Chapter 8

"Beautiful," Lia said softly, standing out the window in Huerta Memorial's waiting area. The window overlooked a large park and wide-open artificial sky. It was easy to forget she was on a nearly forty-five kilometer long space station rather than a planet's surface.

"Yeah, it is." Sidonis's voice was barely above a whisper. Lia glanced at him and found that same haunted look he'd had ever since they picked him up on Omega. "I didn't get a chance to take in any sights like this last time I was here. I was too busy trying to get C-Sec to lock me up. Then I went back to Omega. Been there so long, I thought I'd never see anything like this again."

"Well, I'd say it's about time, then."

He sighed, closed his eyes, and turned away from the window. "I don't deserve to enjoy anything like this. Not after what I did."

"Which is what, exactly?" Lia watched him for a long moment, but he said nothing. Sighing, she took one more look at the park and brilliant blue sky, turned and found an empty lounge chair. She stretched out on it, stared up at Sidonis, and waved a hand at the chair beside her. "I don't want to pry, but if talking about it would help, I'm here whenever you're ready."

He glanced at her, but his eyes weren't quite focused, the majority of his attention on a clearly painful memory. Finally, he trudged over to the chair and sat.

Still, he kept quiet, staring out the window but not really seeing the view. His mandibles quivered.

Lia looked off to the right and spotted Weyland standing at a merchant kiosk. She turned back to the window. It would be a while before the surgeons were finished with Kenn, so she could give Sidonis plenty of time to answer. With the _Sulaco_ in the neighboring Boltzmann system, and nothing to do here except wait for the surgery to be finished, there was no hurry to get answers out of Sidonis.

_In fact, after everything I've been through lately, I think I've earned a chance to just sit on my ass and contemplate the pretty scenery, at least for a while. Sidonis has, too, probably._

"I don't know why I'm keeping it to myself," Sidonis finally muttered. "I shouldn't be afraid of losing your respect, or anything like that. I don't deserve anyone's friendship or respect. Maybe I'll earn it someday, but not for a long time."

"What do you mean?"

"It was the worst mistake I've ever made," Sidonis mumbled after another long pause. "A turian named Garrus Vakarian put together a team to take down the criminal elements on Omega. Pretty tall order, I thought at the time, but worth the effort. We believed in the cause, so we banded together and gave 'em hell." He stared at the floor and shook his head slowly. "I guess we were _too_ effective. The three main merc companies operating there started hitting us back. The Blue Suns, Blood Pack, _and_ Eclipse. Just one of them would've been bad enough, but we really hit the jackpot. And one day, they got their hands on me, and ... and ..."

He trailed off, and Lia waited silently.

"I sold my team out," he finally continued. "I sold my _friends_ out, just to save my own ass." He turned those haunted eyes toward her. "My whole team was killed. People I'd come to respect and consider friends. They were all butchered, because of one moment of weakness." He rubbed his hands over his face. "The mercs threatened to kill me, and I folded like a deck of cards. I'm a fucking coward."

"Keelah," she whispered.

"Garrus tracked me down a few months ago. Had one of his friends draw me out so he could blow my head off with a sniper rifle. His friend talked him out of it." Sidonis sighed, leaned forward, and hung his head. "Like I said on the _Sulaco_, I was given a second chance, even though I don't deserve it. I have to atone. Somehow."

_Damn. And here I was, thinking _I_ was in sorry shape a couple weeks ago._ Unable to think of anything to say, Lia turned to stare out the window.

"Sometimes," Sidonis muttered, "I kind of wish Garrus had killed me. I can't help feeling like that's the only way I'll ever make up for what I did."

"Well, if he _had_ killed you, Kenn probably would've died in that corridor on Omega."

He turned abruptly to stare at her. His eyes opened wider, his mandibles spread apart slightly, and his mouth hung open. Finally, he found his voice. "I ... hadn't even considered that."

"Maybe staying alive isn't such a bad thing, then. You never know who else you might be able to save."

He slumped back in his chair. "Maybe you're right. Thank you."

"Any time."

They fell silent for a long moment, Lia turning back to the window and Sidonis contemplating the ghosts of his recent past. Finally, he faced her again.

"So, I can't help being curious about you. A quarian serving with geth?"

She chuckled. "It's even weirder than that. Those geth? They own the _Sulaco_. They're sort of co-captains. I'm on their crew."

"They ... " He trailed off and stared at her. "You ... "

"I'm on my Pilgrimage. Fell on hard times, sold myself into indentured servitude on Illium. Weyland and Yutani picked up my contract." She laughed at the weirdness of it all. "They own me. To use a krogan saying, how's that for a kick in the quad?"

He continued staring, and finally shook his head again. "What the fuck?"

"Ha! Make yourself comfortable." She leaned back, crossed her ankles, and slipped her hands behind her helmet. "It's a long story."

#

"Come on in," Dakka's muffled voice called from inside her quarters.

Chula tapped the hard-light panel in the middle of the door. The panel flickered out and the door slid aside. She and Yutani stepped into Dakka's room and stopped abruptly.

On the bed in the corner, Quint was sprawled on top of Dakka, his head resting on her chest, and her right arm was draped over his back. Both of them were naked and looked kind of dazed.

"Oh," Chula muttered. _It didn't occur to them to get dressed before letting us in?_

Yutani tilted her head to the right and raised one eyebrow flap. "Is this the condition Lia referred to as 'fucked silly'?"

Chula snickered.

"_Hell_, yeah!" Dakka thrust her left fist into the air, let her arm plop back to her side, and dissolved into a fit of giggles.

Chula shook her head, laughed, and used her Omni-Tool to record a still image of the pair. _Adorable._ "Anyway, we've arrived at Bekenstein and are taking a shuttle down. Wanna come?"

"We've been coming all night," Quint mumbled with a sleepy grin.

Dakka laughed again. "We'll meet you at the shuttle in a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure." Chula and Yutani stepped back into the corridor. As the door closed, she caught a glimpse of Quint and Dakka licking each other's tongues. "Wow." She pointed over her shoulder. "I'm heading down to the shuttle before my visor steams up."

#

"You feeling okay, Quint?" Chula laughed and nudged his shoulder as she, Quint, Dakka, Magnum, and Yutani crossed the spaceport's main docking platform. "You look kind of tired."

"Exhausted, actually. But in a good way." He tossed a grin over his shoulder at Dakka before facing forward again. "Like I said on the _Sulaco_ ... all night. We barely paused for breath."

"Nice!" Chula clapped a hand to his shoulder. To Dakka, she added, "When you have a few spare moments, I want a detailed account."

_Oh, boy._ Quint's face turned red.

Dakka laughed, raised her arms, and stretched. "Consider it done. For now, I'll just say it was _totally_ worth the wait."

"Oh, he put in quite a performance, did he?"

Quint's face grew even hotter. He shook his head. "From what I understand of krogan physiology, their genitals are extremely sensitive. I figure it was good simply because it was happening, rather than anything special I did."

"Don't sell yourself short." Dakka put her arm around him and slid her other hand slowly over his chest. "The physical part is like you said, but being with _you_ is what raised it to a whole other level."

"Well, uh, thanks." Quint grinned, tugged on his shirt collar, and clasped her hand. "Gotta say, you were amazing, yourself. Now I wish I hadn't resisted for so long."

"Well, now we can make up for lost time." Dakka leaned over to flick her tongue over his lips. "When we get back to the _Sulaco_ after whatever job we end up landing here, I'm gonna make sure neither of us get a good night's sleep."

"What, again?" Magnum grinned.

Quint tugged on his collar again and glanced around. He noticed Yutani walking a few feet off to the right, observing them silently. Before boarding the shuttle, the "female" platform had put on a lightweight black trenchcoat. Since she hadn't buttoned it, it didn't hide much.

"So," he said, trying to steer the conversation away from his and Dakka's passionate night together, "what do you figure are our chances of getting a gig before the docking fees ruin us?"

"We entered our employment history and contact information into the planetary job search network before the shuttle landed, and we are monitoring the net continually. Your Omni-Tools will receive an alert if we are contacted. However, we should not stay longer than one day."

"Well, we'll just see how it goes. If no one bites, we'll probably have better luck on the Citadel."

They reached the end of the landing platform and Chula stopped to take in the view.

The others joined her. Quint put his arm around Dakka's waist and turned his head slowly, looking over the city below. This part of the spaceport was elevated, giving new arrivals a majestic view of the nearby city and the mountains beyond. The place bore a strong resemblance to Earth.

"It's pretty," Chula said softly. "Not as nice as the photos of Rannoch I've seen, but still, quite lovely. You and Weyland were right about the scenery, Yutani."

"We are pleased that you like it."

They stood there for a few minutes. Quint smiled as a gentle breeze fluttered his hair. _Nice change of pace. No one shooting at us-yet._ He leaned on Dakka's shoulder and chuckled when she slid her hand down to squeeze his ass.

Finally, they turned toward the nearby door.

"Okay." Chula rubbed her hands together. "Let's see if we can earn some money."

Quint's Omni-Tool beeped softly. He raised an eyebrow and glanced around at the others. They were all looking at their Tools, having received simultaneous alerts. He laughed.

"I'll be damned." He loaded the message and it popped up in a holographic window above the glowing amber Omni-Tool around his left arm. "You all got the same one, or different ones?"

"Mine's from a human named Malcolm Takahashi," Chula said, reading the text in her heads-up display.

"Same here," Magnum said, and everyone else nodded. "Seems he's been looking for a small team, and was pinged when our captains put our files on the net."

"Ha." Dakka grinned. "Our reputation has preceded us. We keep going like this, and we'll have to start turning down jobs just to have time for eating and sleeping." She nudged Quint's shoulder. "And, y'know, fucking."

"That one'll always be my top priority." He winked at her and read the rest of the message. "He wants to meet us at a party he's having this evening. Hmm. It's a costume party. Guess we'll have to dress for the occasion." He closed the message and the Omni-Tool faded away.

"That gives us a few hours." Chula used her Omni-Tool to find the nearest store that would have what they needed. "Let's go shopping, then."

#

Chula leaned against the wall beside the corner kiosk, left hand stuffed into her pocket, and flipped through the costume selection. So far, none of the available outfits really caught her interest. The party's theme was fictional characters from Earth's entertainment industry-specifically, properties from the era before humanity discovered the Charon mass relay and ventured outside the Sol system-which gave her a pretty narrow range to work with. She was probably more knowledgeable about the subject than most quarians, but she was by no means an expert.

She glanced to her right as Yutani stepped up to one of the vacant kiosks. The geth pondered the screen for a moment and touched the random-selection button. A red coat and hat with white fluff around the edges popped up. She added the outfit to her shopping cart.

Quint, on her right, glanced at her screen and chuckled. "Santa's actually a male."

Yutani raised an eyebrow flap and nodded. "Acknowledged." She removed the suit from her cart and opened an options menu. She touched a button labeled "female" and an altered version of the costume appeared. The male model vanished, replaced by a woman; the long red coat and hat remained, and a matching bikini appeared on the model.

"Plausible reason for costume found after extranet search," Yutani said. "Rule 63."

Quint laughed and gave her a thumbs-up. Yutani mimicked his gesture and stepped in front of the scanner on the wall behind Chula. She removed her trenchcoat and waited for the scanner to capture her measurements.

Chuckling, Chula turned back to her screen. She flicked through another dozen costumes before one jumped out at her. _Oh! I should've thought of this already._

Yutani put her coat back on and glanced at the screen as she walked past.

Chula opened an accessories menu and skimmed the list. "Ah, a sonic screwdriver. Perfect!" She added it to her cart.

Yutani leaned over and pointed to another accessory. "Fezzes are cool."

"Oh, I almost missed that! Thank you!" Chula added the red fez to her cart and proceeded to checkout. She placed her order, took off her coat and hat, and walked over to the scanner.

Quint leaned over for a look at Chula's screen. "Oh, that gives me an idea." He typed in a search term and grinned at the result. "There it is. Captain Jack Harkness."

"So, does that mean Dakka is going to be Ianto?"

"Who?" Dakka muttered, glancing up from her kiosk.

"Hmm." Quint turned to look Dakka over. "Somehow, I can't picture you in a suit and tie."

"Eh, yeah, not really my style." Dakka shrugged and continued skimming costumes. "What the hell are you two talking about, anyway?"

"An old vid series I got hooked on shortly after I started my Pilgrimage, and one of its spinoff series." When the scanner took her measurements, she put her coat and hat back on, and leaned against the wall with her hands in her pockets. "I found the main character's sense of adventure quite inspiring. His drive to stand up for what's right and fight evil wherever he went made a big impression on me." She laughed. "Quarians on Pilgrimage don't pick up a lot of trinkets because we usually can't afford them and don't have room for them, but at one point I did buy an antique levitating TARDIS. I've got it sitting on the desk in my quarters."

Dakka stared at her, shook her head, and tapped her Omni-Tool. "I think my translator garbled that. You have a retard on your desk?"

Chula burst out laughing, leaned over and braced her hands on her knees until she could catch her breath. She waved a hand and said, "No, no, no. TARDIS-Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's ... well, I'll have to show you some of the vids when we have time. Maybe when we're on our way back to the Citadel."

"Huh. Okay." Dakka shrugged and returned to perusing her screen.

Chula laughed again. "How about you, Mag? Found one you like yet?"

At the kiosk on the far end, Magnum shrugged one shoulder. "I'm probably too fat to pull it off, but I _love_ this outfit. Amazingly, they have it in my size." She walked over to the scanner.

"What is it?" Quint looked at her kiosk. "Oh, Ahsoka Tano. Good choice." He grinned at the image. "Funny how her less-revealing outfit made her look a hundred times hotter."

"Dude, at that point in the story, she was, like, sixteen."

He shrugged. "She could also dice me up with her lightsabers, so I'd never get past first base with her unless she _allowed_ it."

Dakka laughed. "You've already gone there, anyway. Technically, I'm underage."

His jaw dropped. "What? Aren't you a hundred years old, or more?"

"Ninety-nine, actually, but krogan tend to live well over a thousand years. So that makes me the krogan equivalent of a teenager."

"Oh, no!" Quint facepalmed. "I ... I fucked a minor."

"Over a dozen times since last night, but who's counting?" Dakka snickered at the look on his face. "Relax. Before I left Tuchanka, remember, I was hours away from getting knocked up by some dude I'd never even met. If that rival clan hadn't attacked us, I'd probably still be there, pumping out one unit after another. Besides, if I didn't want you banging me, it'd never happen. Period."

He let out a slow breath. "Yeah, okay, good point."

"Also, I'm the one who wouldn't let you say no. So don't worry about it."

"Another good point, I guess." He scratched his cheek and glanced around, as if looking for a way out. "So, uh, have you picked out a costume yet?"

"Still looking for something sexy." She grinned.

He shrugged and looked at his screen. "Oh, almost forgot to place my order." He paid for his outfit and logged out.

"Hmm, how about Hit-Girl?"

"Oh, Christ, she's _eleven_!"

"But she could kick your ass." Dakka giggled.

"Am I gonna have to show up at the party as Pedobear?"

She snorted. "Okay, okay, take it easy. I'll find another one." She flipped through several more outfits and grinned suddenly. "Oh, I like this one. I have no idea who Xena, Warrior Princess is, but it's a good look."

"Never imagined I'd see a krogan dressed like that, but ... well, now that I think about it, it kinda fits you."

"Excellent." Dakka placed the order, let the scanner measure her, and rubbed her hands together. "Well, let's go pick up our outfits."

#

"Whoa. Just _look_ at this place." Chula stood inside the doorway and shook her head slowly. "The ship I took out on my Pilgrimage could fit inside this room."

Quint stepped through the door and moved aside for Dakka. He took a quick look around the gymnasium-size room before returning his attention to Dakka. The room wasn't exactly crowded, but only because of its size; he estimated around two hundred guests, human and asari and turian and salarian, milling around or standing in groups. Some merely conversed softly with one another, others danced to the gentle music floating from the speakers mounted high on the walls, and many others stood around the circular bar in the middle of the room.

Dakka squeezed past Chula and stood beside Quint, holding his attention solidly as Magnum and Yutani entered. He let his gaze move slowly over the parts of Dakka's body exposed by her costume and grinned.

"Ladies, I should apologize in advance for any stupid things I might say this evening. It's because all the blood has rushed from my head."

Dakka laughed and put her arms around him. "I was hoping you'd like this outfit."

"Oh, I do. I think the leather skirt is what's _really_ doing it for me."

"Keelah, you two." Chula laughed softly. "Try to keep the skirt _on_ for a while, okay?"

"No promises." Quint slipped his arms around Dakka's waist.

"A dozen times in one day wasn't enough? You two are unstoppable." Chula clapped them on the shoulder. "If only I had that much time with Lakirra."

"Lakirra?" a woman's voice said from behind Quint. He turned and found an asari dressed as Indiana Jones scowling at Chula. "Oh, who let the bucket-head in here? Please tell me you're not the one my little sister was talking about?"

"Bucket-head?" Chula stared at her. "As a matter of fact, I did meet an asari named Lakirra recently."

"Ugh, I _knew_ nothing good would come of her relocating to Omega."

Dakka snarled. "What the hell is your problem with my friend?"

"Goddess, you're _female_!" The asari looked her over and curled her lip. "I never would've guessed."

"Are you drunk? Or just naturally cunty?"

"Why aren't you back on Tuchanka, failing to produce offspring like the rest of those barbarians?"

"Any why aren't _you_ gyrating around a pole or renting your body out like all the other asari whores?"

The woman gaped at her. "What? You ... you ... "

Dakka leaned in toward her and sneered. "Don't open your mouth again unless you're giving head."

_Oh, hell._ Quint grasped Dakka's hand and gave it a gentle tug. "Come on, honey, let's not get thrown out of here before we can meet our client."

Yutani took a few steps closer, preparing to intervene if things escalated too much.

"Yeah, money's more important than this twat." Dakka took a step toward the bar.

At the same moment, a turian dressed as Han Solo hurriedly inserted himself between Dakka and the asari. He put his hands on her shoulders and steered her away.

"Come on, Aldaya, let's not cause a scene."

"I'm not causing a scene!"

"Yes, you are. You started it. Come on, let's step out onto the balcony and get some fresh air." He looked over his shoulder. "Sorry about this. She's, uh, had a few." He raised his hand to his mouth and made a chugging motion.

"Don't worry about it." Dakka forced a smile. "These things happen."

Magnum let out a relieved sigh and headed for the bar. "I'll have a look around and see if I can find our client."

"Good idea," Chula said. "I'll join you before I do something she regrets."

"Suit-rat," Aldaya muttered.

Chula lunged toward her and snapped, "I fucked your sister!" She stormed off toward the bar, Aldaya's jaw dropped again, and her companion burst out laughing.

"What the hell is so funny?" Aldaya pushed him away.

"I, uh, I have no idea. I think I may have had too much to drink." He took a few deep breaths to regain his composure. "I could use some fresh air. Want to join me?" He put his arm around her shoulders. "I may need you to hold me upright until we reach one of the seats on the balcony. Then maybe we can take in the sunset."

"I suppose I could use some time away from the crowd." Aldaya let him lead her away, swaying slightly.

He glanced over his shoulder and whispered, "Sorry!"

Quint smiled and waved before joining the others at the bar. "Here, babe, let me buy you a drink." He raised an eyebrow. "You _are_ old enough to drink, right?"

"Gee, let me take my binky out of my mouth before I answer that." Dakka rolled her eyes.

Quint sighed and hung his head. "Okay, like I said, I might be saying stupid things all night because seeing you in that costume makes me horny."

"In that case, all is forgiven."

Yutani glanced from him to Dakka to Chula to Aldaya. "We wonder if we will ever understand organics."

"Good luck with that. A lot of us never figure it out, either." Magnum reached up to adjust her headpiece. She'd tinted her skin orange and applied face paint in the proper pattern to complete her costume. And, Quint noted, she made the outfit look damned good. Her extra weight was perfectly proportioned and really made her stand out from the crowd.

Quint glanced around and caught several nearby men-and some women, too-eyeing her. He looked back to Magnum; if she'd noticed the attention she was getting, she didn't let on.

_Between her and Dakka, I'm gonna be in the mood all night. Better not drink anything, or I might _really_ make a fool of myself._

Dakka suddenly gasped and nudged Quint's shoulder. "Look!" She nodded at something on the right.

He turned, looked around, and spotted a familiar-looking human and turian a few meters away. The former was dressed as Johnny Gat, and the latter ...

_Huh._ It took a moment for Quint to identify her costume. _Oh, Motoko Kusanagi._

"You know who they are?" Dakka said, keeping her voice low.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen 'em before, but I can't quite place 'em."

"Here's a clue-_Fornax_."

"Oh, right. Valerie something-or-other and-"

"Valeria Terakkis and Dick Sizemore."

"Right, that's them." Quint chuckled. "After seeing some photos of him, 'Sizemore' doesn't exactly suit him."

"He admitted in an interview that it's a joke. His real name is Irving Kostmeyer. Not exactly a porn-star name."

"True enough." He watched them cuddle as they spoke with the people around them.

"Maybe I can get 'em to autograph my ass cheeks!" Dakka giggled and hurried over to them.

Quint laughed, shook his head, and followed her. _This oughta be interesting._

#

"Are you alright?" Yutani said, and Chula looked up at her, surprised.

"Oh ... I'll get over it." Chula glanced at the doorway Aldaya and her turian companion had walked through a moment ago. She sat on a vacant stool, leaned on the bar, and sighed. "It does get annoying, though. I mean, it seems like everywhere I go, there's always someone giving me shit simply because I'm a quarian."

"We do not understand the hostility so many organics display toward your people."

"I guess they blame us for creating AI, which is illegal. Even though it was an accident, a lot of people think we were responsible for unleashing a horde of 'genocidal machines' on the galaxy."

"That is not logical. The quarians did not intend to create sentient synthetics, and those who initiated the Morning War died nearly three centuries ago. No currently-living quarian had been born at that time. None of you should be blamed for what your long-dead ancestors did."

"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense. I don't know, maybe some people simply _want_ to hate someone, and we happen to be the target they picked." Chula reached over to a dish of peanuts and turned it idly. She looked up at Yutani. "So, you don't have any ill will toward us?"

"We do not hate your people. We do, however, fear them. Whenever they thought they had a tactical or technological advantage, they attacked us, one hundred percent of the time."

"Yeah." Chula sighed again. "Well, maybe together, we can change that."

"That is our hope. Perhaps peace between our peoples will start with us."

"I think it already has." Chula put her hand on Yutani's shoulder.

"Nice costume," a man behind her said. She turned and found a human in a blue jumpsuit smiling at her. Among the patches and insignia on it was one with the words, _CON-AM _27. It was the first costume she'd seen tonight that she didn't recognize.

He pointed at her neck and said, "Bowties are cool."

She laughed, took her sonic screwdriver out of her coat pocket, and brandished it. "Geronimo!"

"Fantastic!" He grinned and shook her hand, then turned to Yutani. "And this one is amazing. It looks so real."

Chula stifled a snicker.

"Ho-ho-ho," Yutani said, and Chula couldn't help releasing a quick burst of laughter.

"I don't mean the Santa thing, I mean the costume _under_ the costume. Wow, that's really good workmanship."

"This platform is not a costume."

He cocked his head. "Oh, you're a real synthetic?" He looked at Chula. "You designed your personal assistant to look like a geth?"

"Nope, Yutani is a genuine geth platform, and she's actually my captain." Chula laughed at the look on his face. "It's a long story."

"Ah. Well, I'd love to hear it sometime. But for now, we have a potential job to discuss." He smiled again. "I'm Malcolm Takahashi."

"Oh! Pleased to meet you." Chula glanced around. "Some of my crewmates are looking for you; I'll round them up."

"Thanks. When you've gathered them, come to my office upstairs." He smiled, bowed, and walked away.

Chula headed for Quint and Dakka, and Yutani kept pace with her. When she reached them, Dakka grinned and waved at a man standing beside the two porn stars.

"Hey, guys, we were just talking over another potential gig."

Quint grimaced. "I don't know about this."

"What sort of gig?" Chula said.

"Barry Huntley," the man said, grinning. "I work for _Fornax_."

"Oh." Chula glanced at Quint. "_That_ kind of gig."

"I haven't said yes!" Quint sighed. "But when they saw me and Dakka together-"

"We've got another _Krogasm_ special issue in the planning stage," Huntley said, "but since female krogan are so rare anywhere except Tuchanka, and because she's got a human boyfriend, I figure that'll _really_ set this issue apart from everything else we've done."

Quint groaned. "I'm really not interested in-"

Huntley handed him a tablet. Quint glanced at the screen and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"But for _this_ much money, I'll think about it." He handed the tablet back.

"And _hello_ there." Huntley grinned at Yutani. "Fascinating. I never thought I'd see a 'female' geth."

"Oh, boy," Quint said, shaking his head and laughing.

Huntley reached out and felt up Yutani's chest. "_Very_ nice curves. Maybe you'd like to get in on the action."

"This platform is not available for exploitation."

Huntley tapped a number into his tablet and held it out to Yutani. The platform stared at the screen and her eyebrow flaps raised.

"That amount would provide much needed help for the rebuilding of Eden Prime." She looked at Huntley. "We may have an upcoming mission, but once it is complete ... we will consider your offer."

"Keelah," Chula muttered.

"Good." Huntley smiled. "We'll be in touch."

Kostmeyer tapped his Omni-Tool. "Val and I are doing a live show in a few days. Drop by if you have a chance. I've just sent info about it to your Omni-Tool."

"I'd love that." Dakka grinned.

Kostmeyer and Tarakkis sauntered away, waving, and Chula noticed that they had matching wedding rings. Dakka waved back and watched them until they entered a nearby crowd.

"Don't start drooling." Chula laughed and clapped Dakka's shoulder. "Anyway, our potential client wants to meet us upstairs."

"Lead the way, then." Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Okay, let's get down to business."


	9. Chapter 9

"Please, have a seat." Takahashi stepped aside so everyone could enter his office.

Chula walked past him, stood out of everyone's way, and took a look around. Paintings and objects in locked cases hung on the wood-paneled walls, an enormous desk sat at the far end of the room, and behind it was a bay window overlooking a tree-packed valley and a mountain range. Between the door and the desk sat a half-dozen sofas and armchairs.

"Nice," Quint said, stopping beside her and holding Dakka's hand.

"Very." Chula walked over to the nearest wall for a closer look at some of the cases while the rest of the team entered. She didn't recognize most of them, but a few were familiar; several were ancient forms of currency she'd seen in historical files focusing on alien civilizations.

_Wow._ She leaned over to look at a set of coins and a small, rectangular sheet of green paper. _That's a dollar bill. Must be a couple hundred years old, but no creases or tears. Probably worth a fortune, if it's not fake._

She picked a chair, sank into it, and crossed her ankles.

Dakka lowered herself carefully onto a sofa to Chula's left. She grinned, tugged on Quint's hand, and pulled him onto her lap. She put her arms around him and licked his cheek. He laughed, gave her a quick kiss, leaned against her chest and placed his hands over hers.

Takahashi flicked a surprised look at them, covered it up quickly, and smiled as he took the chair across from them.

Magnum sat on the opposite end of the sofa Dakka and Quint had chosen, reached up to adjust her costume's headpiece, gazed at Takahashi and waited for him to begin the briefing. Yutani took a position beside her and remained standing.

"Okay, about the reason I invited you here." Takahashi waved a hand at the valley outside the window. "My husband stumbled onto something while hiking through the forest last week. We wondered how it was missed when this part of Bekenstein was being colonized, but I figure it's simply because no one had really explored that far out from the settlement before." He chuckled. "Benny _loves_ going off the trail and exploring where no one else has been. I'm always terrified that he's going to fall off a cliff or some damned thing, but I haven't been able to talk sense into him in fifteen years, so I just have to go along with it. And in this case, his adventurous spirit has paid off."

"I can appreciate an adventurous spirit." Chula laughed softly. "What did he find?"

"There was an entrance to a cave at the base of one of the mountains on the far side of the valley. Barely big enough for an adult to squeeze through. So, of course, Benny had to check it out." Takahashi shook his head. "He told me that he kept feeling a sense of dread-it kept getting stronger the closer he got to the entrance, but that only made him more determined to have a look. He said it was like something outside his head was trying to trigger a fight-flight response."

"Creepy," Magnum muttered.

"That's exactly what I said. I've heard of other discoveries like this one in the last few years-alien artifacts that screw with people's minds or alter them physically, even turn them into mindless ... I guess you could call them 'husks.'" He shivered. He stared out the window for a few seconds before releasing a quick breath and turning back to his guests. "Anyway, Benny's been camping out there, keeping an eye on the cave until we can move the stuff out of there. Neither of us is a xenoarcheologist, so we're not sure what we've got, but I've been in contact with some people on the Citadel who can study what we've found."

"So," Quint said, "you want us to guard whatever's in the cave until these people get here?"

"Actually, no, they're not coming here. We need to move the relics to the Citadel so they can be examined in a secure location."

"Huh. Why not here?"

"Probably to keep a low profile," Dakka said. "A lot of the people on Bekenstein got rich by being opportunists, and quite a few of those are also pretty ruthless. For instance, the name Donovan Hock was in the news recently-and what a piece of work _he_ was. That kind of activity at the discovery site could attract the wrong kind of attention, and the defensive options would be pretty limited if anyone dropped the hammer on 'em."

"Exactly." Takahashi nodded and smiled. "Merely speaking with scientists about this might've already aroused someone's curiosity. I've had my share of 'competitive analysts' sneak into my company, and one can never be one hundred percent certain they've all been caught. And since my company is small, I don't have the resources to hire a detachment of mercs. I decided a small team would be able to do the job just as well, and much more discretely."

Chula leaned forward and toyed with her sonic screwdriver prop. "So, you want us to transport the artifacts to the Citadel?"

"Yes. Benny's been packing them into crates over the last few days, and I have a vehicle that can carry all of them to the spaceport, plus smaller ones you can use to provide escort. There's nothing else of interest in the cave, no signs that it was ever part of a larger structure, so there's nothing to study that can't be moved. I'm thinking the cave is just a depository, a place someone used to hide a few vitally important things." Takahashi's face took on a haunted look. "Probably to keep them from being destroyed in some sort of cataclysmic event."

Yutani raised an eyebrow-flap. "What exactly did your husband discover? Relics, video logs, written records of this event?"

"All three, actually. I haven't seen them, but Benny described them to me. The writings are in a language he's never seen before; at first I thought that ruled out the Protheans, but what few traces of the Prothean civilization have been dug up ... well, they're not quite consistent. So this could be theirs, or it could be from a species that predates even the Protheans."

_Okay, my curiosity is definitely aroused._ Chula exchanged a glance with the others. The Protheans went extinct fifty thousand years ago, so naturally, artifacts and records from that era were few and far between. If something solid had been found that originated even further in the past ...

"Did he describe the video logs?" Yutani said.

"Yeah." Takahashi shivered again. "He told me about one in particular. It showed a whole planet _burning_. Entire continents were on fire. He guessed it was from orbital bombardment. Then he saw vids of the ... _things_ ... attacking the planet." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Enormous ships that looked like they came straight out of a Lovecraft story. Kind of squid-shaped. Heavily armored, with kinetic barriers that shrugged off everything the planet's inhabitants threw at them."

A chill rushed through Chula's body. "I've heard of ships like those."

"Yeah. One matching that description attacked the Citadel two years ago, along with a fleet of geth ships. Everyone assumed the big ship was an advanced prototype of geth origin, but if similar ones existed fifty thousand years ago-"

"That was no geth ship, and they've been around for at least a _billion_ years. And the geth following it were a very small faction of the total geth population." Chula shook her head. "I got my hands on a report filed by Tali'Zorah vas Normandy a few weeks ago; she had a ton of information about those ships, including a recording of an actual conversation with the one that attacked the Citadel. Its name was Sovereign. The _Normandy_ crew also had an indirect encounter with another one named Harbinger. The report led me to the work of an archeologist named Dr. Liara T'soni, who spent decades studying the Protheans and has firsthand knowledge of the ships in that video log."

"They are not ships," Yutani said. "The geth call them 'Old Machines.' The Protheans called them 'Reapers.' They appear to be sentient artificial intelligences."

"Oh, boy." Takahashi crossed his arms tightly over his chest. "That sounds ominous."

"Yeah," Chula said in a quiet tone. "If you want to give yourself nightmares, look up the report by Tali'Zorah-the bits that aren't redacted, at least-and the articles published by Dr. T'soni."

"I think I have a good idea of what's in them. Benny said the ships-Reapers, or whatever they are-weren't just slaughtering the aliens in this vid. It looked like they were _harvesting_ a lot of them."

"Yeah, that sounds right, given what I've already heard about the Reapers. Every fifty thousand years, they invade the galaxy, pick a single sentient species to harvest, and exterminate the rest." Chula looked up at Yutani. "So, do we accept the job?"

"Affirmative." Yutani turned to look at Takahashi. "This discovery may be of far greater importance than either of you realized."

Takahashi nodded slowly and let out a long sigh. "That's what I was afraid of."

#

"There's something bugging me," Dakka said to Takahashi as the team finished gearing up and headed for the garage beside his house. "You mentioned your husband was being affected by something in that cave. Like something was trying to keep him away from it. Can you be sure it's not affecting him in other ways?"

"That was the first thing I started worrying about as soon as he said it." Takahashi shrugged. "He seemed perfectly normal in every conversation we've had since then, but ... well, I always had that concern in the back of my mind."

"An affect of Reaper technology has been documented recently," Yutani said. Everyone else had removed their costumes and packed them for the return flight to the _Sulaco_, but the mobile platform had left the lady-Santa costume on. "It has been termed 'indoctrination.' Known symptoms of indoctrination include paranoia, headaches, hallucinations, and voices in the victim's mind. The victim begins to view the Reapers as gods and work toward their goals."

"Benny didn't exhibit any paranoid behavior and didn't mention headaches or voices." Takahashi led them across the garage, stopped beside a six-wheeled Mako, and wrung his hands. "But _something_ was screwing with his head outside the cave."

"It might not be anything to worry about, then." Dakka turned to frown at the Mako. "The video logs sound like a record of someone's last stand against the Reapers, if that's what the squid-ships actually were. So, not Reaper technology." _Assuming something _else_ in that cave isn't a Reaper artifact._ She kept it to herself; there was no point in worrying their client even more than he already was.

"I hope you're right. Still, we should keep an eye on him until a doctor can check him out, just in case." Takahashi shook his head and grimaced, as if hating himself for even suggesting such a thing. He pulled himself together and pointed at the Mako. "Uh, anyway, this is our ride. The stuff he found is pretty small, so we should be able to fit all the boxes in the rear compartment."

"If you don't mind," Dakka said, "I'll take one of the escort vehicles. I _hate_ riding in those things. It's like trying to drive a bar of wet soap. Last time I was in one, my stomach contents ended up all over the console."

"There's something that can actually make a krogan puke?" Quint shook his head slowly and laughed.

"Only one thing in the galaxy." Dakka aimed one last scowl at the Mako and walked over to one of the small, two-wheeled vehicles. She was almost too big for it, but she'd make do.

"If none of you want to ride in the Mako, that's okay. It can definitely be a little bumpy." Takahashi chuckled. "We've got enough bikes for all of you if you'd prefer those."

"It's been a long time since I've been on a wheeled vehicle." Chula had a grin in her voice as she hopped onto one of the bikes. "This reminds me of some antique motorcycles I saw in really old vids from Earth."

Yutani stared at another bike for a few seconds. Her head flaps raised and lowered, a sign that the nearly three thousand geth runtimes housed in her body were pondering something or doing an extranet search. Probably looking up an operation manual for the bike, Dakka guessed as Yutani climbed onto the bike.

Quint snickered and pointed his left arm at Yutani. His Omni-Tool appeared around his forearm and a light on the end flashed. "Sorry, I just _had_ to have a photo of that."

Yutani nodded and tugged on her Santa hat, pulling it a bit tighter. "Is everyone ready?"

Dakka grinned and started her bike's engine. The others followed suit, and Takahashi climbed into the Mako.

"I've set the waypoint on your nav computers," he said. "Just drive to the blip."

Dakka glanced at the nav display on her control panel. "Got it. Let's ride."

Chula and Yutani took the lead, Takahashi cruised along behind them, and Dakka, Quint, and Magnum brought up the rear. Dakka set her armor's sensors to scan continuously and alert her if anyone else came within range, especially from behind. She let her gaze wander as the team entered the forest, taking in the overwhelming amount of _green_ all around her. This world was the polar opposite of Tuchanka, a radioactive wasteland with almost no surviving vegetation and precious few buildings that hadn't been reduced to piles of rubble.

"How's the fishing here?" she said after a few minutes of silent driving.

"Dunno, really," Takahashi's reply came over her radio. "I'm not the outdoorsy type, but I do know there are some lakes and rivers on Bekenstein that are packed with fish. Some of them were transplanted from Earth."

"Nice." Dakka grinned. "Last time I went fishing was about three weeks ago, when a job took us to Earth. After it was over, I talked Quint into taking a boat out with me. It was one of my first attempts to get into his pants."

Quint snorted. "Fishing bored me out of my mind, but at least I had good company."

"Not good enough to start up a relationship, apparently."

"Well, we made up for lost time last night."

"We sure did." She giggled.

Chula laughed. "If you hadn't cut your fishing trip short, who knows what might've happened?"

"Ha! True."

"Why'd you have to cut it short?" Takahashi said. "What happened?"

"There we were, out in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but ocean all around us. Sitting back-to-back in the boat, just relaxing." Dakka smiled at the memory. "I'd never seen so much water until long after I left Tuchanka."

"Yeah, it was nice," Quint said. "Really peaceful. Just a few seagulls in the distance every now and then. Until I finally hooked something. I tried to reel it in, but that sucker just wasn't gonna budge."

"Caught yourself dinner, eh?" Takahashi said.

"Not exactly. Quint said, 'Wow, I don't know what this thing is, but it's _big_.'" Dakka burst out laughing and couldn't continue.

"And then Dakka just kind of casually said, 'Whatever it is, it's on this side, too.' I immediately tossed my fishing rod into the ocean, fired up the engine, and hauled ass outta there."

"I wanted to ask him what the hell had spooked him, but I was laughing too hard."

"Well, as it turns out, I made the right call. Once we were far enough away to see that thing-"

"It was a giant stingray. And when I say giant, I mean that motherfucker was bigger than our boat." Dakka sighed. "I wanted to go back and take it on myself, but I was still laughing so hard I could barely sit up straight."

"Wish I could've seen it," Magnum said.

After the laughter subsided, the group continued making small talk until they reached the mountains.

"Okay, we're almost there," Takahashi said. "About fifteen, twenty more minutes and-"

Dakka's sensors pinged and several dozen blips popped up in her helmet's HUD. "Hold on, I'm picking up a lot of unidentified targets."

"I see 'em, too," Chula said. She parked her bike and shut the engine down. "Mr. Takahashi, you should wait here while we check this out."

"Okay," he said, keeping his voice low. The Mako's engine powered down.

Dakka dismounted and joined Chula in front. Magnum walked over to the Mako.

"I'll stay with our client, just in case."

"Acknowledged," Yutani said, also keeping her volume down.

Chula turned her head slowly, giving the area a visual sweep. She pointed up at the mountain on the left. "I just spotted one of 'em. Probably a sniper."

"Can you see any markings on his armor or uniform or whatever? If we can find out who we're dealing with-"

Chula gasped. Her fists clenched and she snarled, "Cerberus!"

"What?" Takahashi said. "Who?"

"Aw, shit," Quint muttered. "Bad, _bad_ guys. Paramilitary human-supremacist group. Real 'ends justify the means' types. Anything to advance humanity, even at the expense of every other species in the galaxy. That includes unethical experiments, sabotage, and assassinations. They're nothing but a bunch of goddamn terrorists."

"I'm familiar with them," Chula grumbled. "Not too long ago, they attacked the _Idenna_, the ship I was born on."

"Jesus," Takahashi moaned. "This means Benny could be in serious trouble."

Chula took a moment to get a grip on herself. She took a slow breath and said, "I recommend we sneak past them and try to slip Benny and the artifacts out. We don't want everyone shooting with a noncombatant in the middle of it."

"Agreed," Yutani said. She pulled her plasma shotgun from her back and crept forward.

"I'll take care of the sniper." Dakka glanced around, picked out a suitable pathway up the mountain, and plucked her Claymore shotgun from her hip. "From where he's standing, he can't miss anyone approaching the cave."

Yutani nodded. "We will wait for your signal."

Dakka made her way quickly but silently up the mountain. A minute and a half later, she reached the armored figure Chula had spotted. Light gray armor with the black and yellow Cerberus logo on the right shoulder. A sniper rifle hung on his back and he held a grenade launcher in his hands.

_Gotcha._ Dakka grinned, put her shotgun back on her hip, and eased forward. If she could take him out quietly-

Her right foot dislodged a fist-size rock and sent it tumbling down the slope behind her.

_Aw, fuck me._

The Cerberus agent glanced over his shoulder, saw her towering over him, and spun around.

"_Hwaaaaah!_" He swung the grenade launcher toward her. Before he could get it into position, his finger tightened on the trigger and fired a grenade at the cliff wall to his left. The grenade bounced off the rock wall, deflected back into his face-and exploded.

The blast overloaded her shields and made her stagger. She regained her balance and gaped at the body as it tumbled over the edge.

Then she burst out laughing.

"Dakka?" Quint said, sounding panic-stricken. "What the hell was that? Are you okay?"

She leaned against the cliff and kept laughing. Finally, she managed to choke out, "Fuckin' stupid!"

"Dakka." Chula's voice. "What happened?"

She took a few breaths and managed to regain her composure. "I startled this guy and he blew himself up."

"Well, that's wonderful. If they didn't know we were here before, they sure as hell do now."

"Hey, it's not my fault Cerberus is hiring from the shallow end of the gene pool these days." Dakka pulled her rotary cannon from her back. "Oh, well, I'll just make sure they're all shooting at me while you slip in and grab Benny."

Chula sighed. "Okay, maybe that'll work."

"Be careful, babe," Quint said.

"Don't worry about me. I once survived a stabbin' that bisected both of my uteruses; I can handle a few Cerberus bitches."

"Okay, then," Chula said. "Let's go. Keelah se'lai."

#

"Whoa." Chula stopped and stared at the bodies strewn over the level ground in front of the cave entrance. Six batarians, all apparently killed by shots to the head.

"Pirates," Quint muttered. "They must've heard something was going on here and figured they could steal it. Then Cerberus took 'em out."

"No, the Cerberus team is behind us. I don't think they made it this far."

Yutani walked over to one of the bodies and pointed. "This wound appears to be self-inflicted."

Chula joined her, took one look at the body, and shuddered. "You're right, this guy ate his own gun."

"So did this one." Quint pointed at another body, glanced at a third, and grimaced. "That one, too."

"What the hell?"

Behind her, the near-constant gunfire, screams, and occasional gleeful laughter from Dakka, continued echoing up the mountain. And in front of her ...

Sobbing.

She gripped both Phalanx pistols a little tighter and crept toward the sound. After stepping around a boulder nearly the size of a Mako, she found a batarian leaning against it, rocking back and forth and weeping like a child.

Chula glanced around, but found no one else. She scanned the area with her Omni-Tool and found a single human life sign in the cave.

The batarian seemed unaware of anyone else's presence. Or if he had noticed them, he just didn't care.

"I've never seen a batarian cry before," Quint said numbly. "It's ... kind of unnerving."

Chula lowered her guns and took a step closer to the batarian. "Hey. Can you hear me?"

His whole body shook with the force of his sobs. He reached over to the left, picked up a hand cannon, and raised it to his own head.

Chula lunged at him and wrenched his gun away.

"_No!_" He grabbed at it, but she leaped back out of his reach and handed the gun to Quint.

"What happened here?" Quint said.

"Let me do it," the batarian sobbed. "Let me do it. I can't-it's inside my head! I can't take it anymore. I can't-I can't-" He sucked in a deep breath and wept even harder. "I can't I can't I can't I can't-"

"Hey, take it easy." Quint took a cautious step toward him. "What's inside your head?"

"Death," he moaned. All four of his eyes opened wider. "They're _all_ dead! Everyone! The whole planet!" He flopped over, curled into a fetal position, and wailed. "I can't go on. Kill me. Please! Just end it."

Chula shuddered again. Her heart pounded. She put her guns back under her duster and activated her Omni-Tool. "Shhh. It's going to be okay."

"No, it won't." He aimed his crazed stare at her. "It's coming for us next. It's coming. We can't stop it!"

Chula leaned over him, pointed her Omni-Tool, and fired a mild jolt into him. He turned limp, but kept moaning and sobbing. She looked up at Quint and searched his clothing for any other weapons or sharp objects. "See if any of these guys was carrying a med-kit. He needs some serious tranquilizers, or he might try to off himself as soon as we turn our backs on him."

"I'm on it." Quint walked off to check the bodies.

"Benny," Chula whispered. She turned to stare at the cave entrance. "What the _fuck_ did you dig up?"


	10. Chapter 10

"Guys, I've got good news and bad news," Dakka's voice came over the comms. "The good news is, I've got the Cerberus troops on the run. The bad news is, half of 'em are heading toward the cave and the other half are running back toward the Mako."

Magnum glanced at Takahashi and nodded at the Mako behind him. "Better get inside and lock the doors. Trouble's coming." She lifted her M-96 Mattock heavy assault rifle, checked its heat sink, and faced the path ahead of the Mako. "Dakka, how many are headed my way?"

"Eight. Nine more heading for the cave."

"Have you found Benny yet?" Takahashi said.

"Not yet," Chula answered. "We've detected a human life sign in the cave, but ran into something odd before we could investigate. We'll let you know as soon as we can get to him."

Magnum glanced over her shoulder and found Takahashi in the doorway to the Mako's driver compartment. "Please, get inside and lock the door. I'll let you know when it's safe to come out."

"I'm on my way." Dakka said. "Let's see if we can pin 'em down between us."

"Sounds like a plan." Magnum sealed her helmet, charged her armor's shields, and lined up a shot on the most likely spot for the first Cerberus mook to appear.

Her armor's auditory sensors picked up several pairs of footsteps crashing through trees and, a moment later, clacking against rock. She tapped a button on the Mattock's side, switching it to disruptor ammo to take care of enemy shields, and waited.

_Okay, boys, come to Mama._

#

"That should do it." Chula waited a few more seconds, scanned the batarian with her Omni-Tool to be sure the sedative had taken effect, and stood. "Let's check out the cave before the Cerberus team finds us."

To her right, Yutani spun around and aimed her plasma shotgun. Chula turned to face the same direction and raised both Phalanx pistols.

A batarian stood three meters away, holding both hands up, clutching an Avenger assault rifle in one and an M-6 Carnifex pistol in the other.

"Hold your fire!" The batarian placed the guns on a nearby boulder and stepped away from them. "I'm not here to cause any trouble. Well, not anymore." He nodded at the half-dozen dead batarians near Chula, Quint, and Yutani. "As you can see, we've had plenty of trouble already. I know when it's time to give the hell up."

Yutani approached slowly, keeping her shotgun aimed at his chest, and scanned him with her Omni-Tool. "No weapons detected."

"Okay." Chula lowered her guns but didn't put them away. "Tell us what happened here."

"I can tell you what I saw, but as far as _explaining_ it goes ... eh, I wish I knew." He glanced at the bodies and shuddered. "On second thought, maybe I'm better off not knowing."

"Okay, what did you see, then?" Chula set her Tool to scan continuously and keep track of the approaching Cerberus troops. For now, the blips in her HUD were still several minutes away.

"Well, we'd heard about the activity here and thought we could get our hands on something worth selling. Several of us entered the cave and found a human there along with four crates and some artifacts that hadn't been packed up yet. I made the mistake of pointing a gun at the guy." He grimaced and rubbed his jaw. "Bastard has a hell of a right hook. The others had to pile on top of him and pin him down."

"What did you do to him?" Chula raised her guns a few centimeters, not aiming at him but making sure he knew what would happen if he'd harmed their client's husband.

"Just shackled his wrists so he wouldn't hit any of us again. But that's when the trouble started. We opened the crates to see what we had, and a couple of us examined the other relics that were laying around." He nodded at one of the bodies. "Morek, there, must've triggered one of them. A green light washed over him, he convulsed and fell over, and about a minute later, he started crying and babbling about whole planets being wiped out and something coming for the rest of us."

Chula shivered and pointed at the sedated batarian behind her. "This one was doing the same thing when we found him."

The new arrival nodded. "The relic affected the others one by one, within seconds of each other. I got the hell out of there before it could do the same to me, and watched from a distance. One by one, they grew more hysterical, until they blew their own brains out."

"Shit." Chula glanced at the cave entrance. The human she'd detected was still alive, but if he'd been affected by that thing, it was only a matter of time.

Yutani stepped toward the cave. "We believe it is safer for us to investigate. The device may not be able to affect synthetics. We will send a video feed to your Omni-Tools so you can track our progress."

"Okay." Chula set her Tool to receive Yutani's signal and watched the geth approach the entrance. "Be careful."

#

Dakka caught up with the eight Cerberus troops mere seconds before they reached the Mako. The point man emerged from the trees and stopped in his tracks.

"That's far enough." Magnum's voice came from the clearing where the Mako was parked.

The guy stared at her, then snapped his rifle up. A sustained burst of disruptor ammo overloaded his shields before he could open fire. Magnum switched to incendiary ammo and hit him with another long burst to melt through his armor.

_Better not start shooting, especially with my BFG. Can't risk hitting Mag or Takahashi._ Dakka put her Claymore shotgun away and crept up to the two guys bringing up the rear. _Don't need a repeat of what happened in that hangar on Omega, either._

She closed in on the troops and was within arm's reach of the two stragglers when the guy ahead of them glanced over his shoulder and saw her. He spun and brought his assault rifle up.

Before the two guys could turn to see what had startled him, Dakka clamped a hand onto the side of each man's helmet and slammed them together.

"Bonk!" She giggled as they collapsed.

The next guy managed to get off a half-dozen shots before she reached him. She swatted the gun away, grabbed his wrist and yanked him off balance. He drew a hand cannon, but before he could turn it toward her, she drove her left foot into his knee, snapping it sideways. His leg buckled and she wrenched the pistol from his hand as he fell. A solid kick to his head made sure he wouldn't get back up.

One of Magnum's shots punched through the point man's armor and set his skin ablaze. He screamed, dropped his rifle, and swatted at the fire.

The four remaining troops locked their aim onto Dakka and backed away. She laughed and advanced slowly on them. The Cerberus mooks glanced at each other, as if surprised that she hadn't simply charged them like a typical krogan.

Footsteps crashed through the trees toward them. Dakka flicked a glance to the right as Magnum appeared and launched straight at the point man. She leaped, cocked her right fist back, and crashed it down into his visor. He hit the ground and she rolled, turned, and came up in a crouch.

The guy pushed himself up to his hands and knees, shook his head to clear it, and looked around for his gun.

Magnum aimed her rifle at his back and cleared her throat. He looked around at her, froze, and his shoulders sagged.

"Well, _shit_." He raised his hands slowly.

The four other troops shifted their aim back and forth, trying to cover both Magnum and Dakka.

"I hope you keep fighting." Dakka grinned as she continued her approach. "I really do."

The nearest one kept his aim steady. The guy behind him appeared to decide that Dakka was the bigger threat, and turned to cover her as well, leaving the others to cover Magnum.

"Go right ahead. Pull the trigger." Dakka didn't even slow down. "Think you can punch through my kinetic barriers _and_ my armor before I grind you into a fine paste?"

His finger tightened on the trigger.

Dakka lunged, grabbed the barrel of his rifle and wrenched it aside. The gun fired a burst past her, one of the shots grazing her shields and causing them to flare. She clenched her fist and drove it into his visor. The impact cracked it and knocked him off his feet.

"Bonk!" Dakka laughed again and strode toward the second mook. He opened fire and the other two swung their rifles around to aim at her. Her shields absorbed the shots, but the gauge in her HUD dropped rapidly. Only a few more seconds and she'd lose her barriers.

She glanced at her confiscated rifle, flicked the safety on, and flipped it over. She caught the end of the barrel, swung it like a club, and whacked it into the side of the man's helmet. "Boink!"

She turned to the last men standing as the second toppled over. They sprayed her and backed away. She cocked her hand back and threw the rifle at the guy on the left. It slammed into his chest a split-second before her shields failed. He staggered and flailed, and several dozen shots drilled into the trees beside him.

He regained his balance, but before he could reacquire his target, Magnum knocked his gun out of his hand with a shot from her Mattock. He turned and stared at her. She kept him in her sights, drew her hand cannon and aimed it at the guy she'd taken out a moment ago.

The last guy tossed his gun aside and raised his hands with a resigned groan.

Dakka chuckled and pointed toward the Mako. The conscious Cerberus troops grumbled and trudged ahead of her and Magnum. Dakka picked up the unconscious ones and dragged them by their ankles. When they reached the Mako, Dakka dropped her captives at a spot about two meters away from the vehicle and pointed at the ground.

"Sit." She pulled her multi-barrel cannon from its place on her back and pointed it at them. "Okay, now, how about you tell us why you're here?"

"Nah." One of the men stretched out on the ground, laced his fingers together behind his head, and crossed his ankles. "Think I'll just wait for our backup to come in and take care of you and your friends."

"More assholes to shoot. I like where this is headed." Dakka leaned against the side of the Mako and took her helmet off. She took a brick of bubble gum out of her belt pouch, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

"The other nine should be reaching Chula's position right about now," Magnum said.

"Nice. No reason we should have all the fun." She grinned and blew a bubble.

Magnum rolled her eyes.

Dakka popped the bubble, laughed, and continued chewing as she waited.

#

"Oh, shit!" a man whispered through Chula's comlink. In the holofield projected by her Omni-Tool, a human male ducked into a side tunnel.

"I intend no harm," Yutani said. "Is your name Benny?"

"Y-yes." He peeked around the corner.

"Malcolm Takahashi hired my crew to move the artifacts you found to the Citadel. He is waiting in a Mako at the base of the mountain."

"Mal's here?"

"Correct. Three of my crew members are outside the cave, and part of a Cerberus team is approaching. I recommend you wait in here until they are dealt with."

"Uh, guys," Magnum cut in, "we've detected some heavy reinforcements coming in. Four gunships and two personnel carriers; I figure each carrier has at least a couple dozen troops."

Chula glanced at the blips in her HUD and sighed. "Not only that, but the remnants of the first team are almost on top of us."

The Mako's engine started up, followed by Takahashi's voice.

"Tell Benny I'm on my way. Dakka, Magnum, hop in."

"Uh, Mr. Takahashi," Magnum started, but he interrupted her.

"I'm not gonna sit here and wait for them to overrun us. I'm getting my guy out of there!"

Dakka chuckled. "You're the boss. Mag and I will cover you from the two-wheelers."

"Benny," Yutani said, "Malcolm is coming to pick us up."

"Good. I'm ready to get the hell out of here." Benny hesitated before stepping out into the open. He turned around and said, "W-would you mind taking these restraints off?"

Yutani walked forward and hacked the locks with her Omni-Tool. The cuffs fell from his wrists and he turned to stare at the pile of artifacts.

"Thank you." He waved a hand at the artifacts and the partially empty crates. "We should pack those up before-"

"I will do that. We saw what happened to the batarians who accidentally activated one of these."

In the distance, the Mako crashed through the trees on its way up the mountain.

The nine Cerberus blips in Chula's HUD were only a few seconds away.

"Find some cover, everyone. Company's coming." She made a point of staying near the batarian as he glanced around, picked a spot behind a boulder off to the right, and crouched behind it. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Goresk."

She nodded. "Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco."

"Here they come," Quint muttered. He gripped his Locust submachine gun in his right hand and pointed his left arm at the trail leading down the mountain. His Omni-Tool's golden glow wrapped around his arm and the device waited for his next command.

A suit of light gray armor with gold and black trim appeared as the first Cerberus goon hopped the low ridge at the edge of the clearing. He took a quick look around, spotted the cave entrance, and charged straight at it.

The rest of his team appeared in the same spot and followed him.

Quint tapped his thumb on one of his Tool's hard-light controls, and the Cerberus point man's shields collapsed in a shower of electric arcs. One of the arcs jumped across to the guy behind him, hitting like a lightning bolt and knocking out his shields, and spread from him to the rest of the group.

Chula leaned far enough out of cover to aim her guns at two of the men. "Head back the way you came or-"

They scattered, firing wildly as they ran for whatever cover they could find.

Chula ducked behind her boulder and flinched as several close hits blasted chunks of rock away. She activated her Tool and launched her combat drone. It appeared in the middle of the advancing hostiles and zapped the nearest one.

Beside her, Goresk curled up, trying to make himself as small a target as possible, and shook his head. "If I survive this," he grumbled, "I'm fuckin' retiring."

#

"_Wooohooooo!_" Dakka grinned as the six-wheeled vehicle ahead smashed through the smaller trees and swerved effortlessly around the larger ones. "This guy can _drive_!"

"We're almost on top of 'em," Magnum said. "The Cerberus team is right over that next ridge, and our friends are just outside the cave."

Takahashi fired the Mako's ventral thrusters and launched it into the air. Its wheels scraped the tops of the trees in its path before it began its descent.

"Whoa." Dakka's eyes opened wider as the Mako dropped directly onto three of the hostiles and their bio-signatures flatlined. Takahashi accelerated toward the cave and the Mako's left-rear wheel skidded over one of the bodies. The tire's spin launched the corpse straight toward Dakka.

She wrenched the controls to the right and leaned over. The body sailed overhead, missing her by mere centimeters. Gravity took hold and she and her bike skidded across the ground until both slammed into the ridge the hostiles had climbed moments before.

"Fuckberries," she grumbled. She scrambled back to her feet and peeked over the ridge. The half-dozen surviving Cerberus troops had stopped firing and turned to stare at their teammates' remains and the onrushing Mako. Chula's combat drone took advantage of their distraction and electrocuted one of the guys on the left.

Yutani's combat drone appeared and engaged two more off to the right.

One of the last three stood and stepped out from behind the rock outcropping he'd been using for cover. He pulled his right arm back and a deep blue glow enveloped his body.

"Uh-oh," Magnum said. "They've got at least one biotic on their team. I've got him." She dismounted and a similar glow crackled around her.

Dakka picked up her bike and hopped over the ridge.

The Cerberus agent thrust his arm forward and a biotic shockwave rippled across the ground, slamming straight toward Quint and Chula.

Magnum fired her own biotic blast at the shockwave. The two fields connected and detonated. Dakka flinched and shielded her eyes from the flash. The concussion made her stagger and tipped the Mako briefly onto its passenger-side wheels. It came back down on all six tires and bounced.

When Dakka's vision cleared, she found the Cerberus troops picking themselves up and her friends sprawled on the ground past them.

Her hearts pounded. "Quint ... ?"

He moaned, but didn't move.

The Cerberus biotic pushed himself upright, staggered, and shook his head.

Dakka roared and threw the two-wheeler at him. The huge bike spun through the air and plowed into his shoulder blades. He pitched forward with a grunt tumbled across the ground.

Magnum gunned down his two buddies before they could get back to their feet.

The biotic agent dragged himself out from under the bike and looked around.

Dakka strode toward him, clenching her fists and snarling.

He plucked a frag grenade from his belt and flung it at her. The blast hit her just hard enough to knock out her shields.

She didn't stop, didn't slow down, didn't even blink.

He managed to get his feet under himself and dashed toward the cave entrance.

He reached the entrance and stopped abruptly. Dakka frowned at him, then laughed.

Yutani stood in the entrance with her plasma shotgun shoved into his face. He simply stared at her, probably confused by her Santa hat, coat, and matching bikini she'd bought for Takahashi's costume party.

"What the hell?" the guy mumbled.

"Santa is coming to town," Yutani replied.

Dakka rushed up to him, clamped her left hand onto his shoulder, spun him around to face her, and cocked her right fist back.

He grabbed at a knife on his belt.

Dakka rammed her fist into the side of his head, putting everything she had into it. The impact snapped his neck and sheared his armor open. She let the body fall and headed back to Quint. She dropped to her knees beside him and stroked his cheek.

"Hey ... ."

He opened his eyes and grimaced. "What ... ? Oh, hi."

She scanned him and let out a relieved sigh. "Looks like you'll be okay."

"Yeah, I think so. Once my head stops aching, at least." He took her hand and let her pull him up. "That was a _hell_ of an explosion."

"Yeah," Chula groaned as she sat up. She looked around, found her hat, and put it back on. "Not the kind of bang I'm usually in the mood for."

Yutani hung the shotgun on her back, walked over to Chula, and extended a hand to help her up.

Takahashi climbed out of the Mako and took a few steps toward the cave entrance. "Benny?"

"Right here!" Benny launched out of the entrance, ran over to him, and threw his arms around him.

"You okay?" Takahashi whispered.

"I think so. When we get to the Citadel, I want to get a complete med-evaluation done, just in case." He glanced at the dead batarians and shuddered. "Last thing I want is to end up like them."

"That's the first thing we'll do when we get there."

"Cerberus reinforcements are almost on us," Magnum said, looking at the sky with a frown.

"We will finish packing the artifacts." Yutani returned to the cave.

"I'll help." Dakka gave Quint's lips a brief lick before following the geth.

"Exercise extreme caution," Yutani said as she gathered the last few items and placed them in a crate. "We do not know what activated the device that affected the batarians."

"Got it." Dakka picked up one of the crates and scraped it through the narrow entrance. Yutani followed with another crate.

Less than five minutes later, they'd secured all the crates in the Mako. Malcolm took the controls and Benny sat beside him.

Dakka arched a brow ridge at the batarian survivor. "What about him?"

Goresk raised his hands slowly. "If you'd drop me off at the spaceport, I can take it from there." He took a slow look around. "Or ... I don't know ... maybe I'll stay here a while. Rent a hotel room with a good view and take in a few sunrises. Think I need something like that after what I saw here today."

"As long as you don't give us any trouble," Benny said, "I've got no objection."

Goresk shook his head. "Don't worry about that. I'm not giving you another excuse to crack me on the jaw again."

"Okay." Chula picked up the sedated batarian and helped Goresk load him into the Mako. She pointed a thumb over her shoulder. "Since those reinforcements are probably more than we can handle on those bikes, I think we should all just get into the Mako and haul ass."

Takahashi patted the console. "This baby's kinetic barriers should hold out long enough for us to get to the spaceport."

"Then we take our shuttle back to the _Sulaco_ and head straight to the Citadel." Chula climbed into the passenger compartment.

"Agreed." Yutani stood by the vehicle's door and waited for everyone else to board.

"Not riding in one of those things." Dakka shook her head, climbed on top of the Mako, and found a handhold. She clamped on and pulled the massive gun from her back. "If they start shooting at us, I'll make 'em regret it."

Quint shook his head. "Dakka ... ."

"Don't argue. I'll be fine."

He sighed. "If you say so." He, Magnum, and Yutani climbed aboard.

"Okay." Dakka grinned and looked around for the approaching gunships. "Let's go."


	11. Chapter 11

"Any word on Kenn yet?" Lia said softly, and waited for the human behind the counter to answer.

The woman arched an eyebrow, looked as if she were trying not to roll her eyes, and tapped a few buttons. She read the text on the screen and looked back up at Lia.

"You family?"

"Not genetically, but we're both on Pilgrimage; each of us is the only family the other has, out here."

The woman raised her eyebrow again. "Pilgrimage?"

"It's a rite of passage. Quarians must leave the Migrant Fleet and return with something of value before they're considered fully adult."

"So that's your excuse for slumming around, living on the charity of others, and stealing-"

"What? I haven't stolen _anything_! Neither has Kenn. Who, by the way, was _shot_ by mercs and could've died."

Sidonis stepped up beside her and leaned on the counter. "If you want to be a racist, do it on your own time. You're here to do a _job_. At least act like a professional, okay?" He took a breath. "This woman and the crew of her ship saved that kid's life, and mine. All we want to know is whether he's okay or not." His mandibles quivered. "Or should I speak with your supervisor instead?"

"Sorry, I can only release that information to his immediate family."

"His immediate family happens to be on the opposite side of the galaxy at the moment." Lia sighed abruptly and waved a hand. "No, forget it." She turned and walked back to the window overlooking the park.

Sidonis joined her. "Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. I don't really trust myself to speak without saying something that might get me thrown out onto the docking bay floor."

"It's okay. I know the feeling." Lia shook her head. "I could've argued with her, myself, but I've had too many conversations like this before, and I could see where this one was going. It wouldn't have solved anything."

"You've gone through this kind of thing a lot, huh?"

"Most quarians do. Last time I was on the Citadel, in fact, I caught the same kind of crap from a C-Sec officer." She sighed and returned to the lounge chair. "A volus merchant accused me of picking his pocket, and the C-Sec officer took his word for it. He decided I was guilty just because I'm a quarian."

"Did he arrest you?" Sidonis sat on the adjacent chair.

"No. Right then, a human happened to pass by and overheard our conversation. Odd thing-he had another quarian and a geth platform with him. Might even be the same group Kenn encountered on Omega." She leaned back and stared out the window. "Anyway, the human turned out to be a Spectre. He found the merchant's credit chit in a store at the end of the marketplace, and told him where it was-and even then, the C-Sec man didn't back off. He threatened to arrest me for vagrancy if I didn't leave, even though there was nowhere else I could go without being forced to leave for the same reason. The Spectre told him and the volus off and got them to back down."

"Good thing he happened along, then."

"Right. If he hadn't, I'd probably _still_ be in a cell here." She glanced over her shoulder, at the door at the far end of the room, leading to the operating room. "Well, I guess we'll find out how Kenn's doing eventually."

"Maybe when the surgeons come out, we can ask one of them."

"Sounds like a plan." She glanced around and found Weyland still at the kiosk.

"I wonder what it's up to," Sidonis muttered.

"Ordering supplies, I imagine. The ship that was bringing us dextro-based food and medicine ... well, that was the derelict ship we told you about. So he's probably arranging for another delivery. Maybe looking into the attack, too. I would, if I were him."

"I'm still trying to wrap my brain around what you told me." Sidonis stared at the platform and shook his head slowly. "After everything I've heard about the geth ... ."

"I know. I'm still suspicious, but ... I don't know, I'd like to believe their claims are true." She shrugged. "Well, whether I believe it or not, our two peoples have been in a state of war for three centuries, even though there hasn't been any actual combat in most of that time-but if the geth find out that we have a stealth ship and it's attacking their ships, it could lead to a shooting war. And I'm pretty sure my people would lose."

"The quarians are really that unprepared for combat?"

"Most of our ships are at least three hundred years old. Many of them are held together with spot-welds, cargo straps, and pieces of tape. And from what I've heard, our ground combat troops have gotten their asses handed to them in every recent battle." She slumped back in her chair and stared out the window without really seeing anything beyond it. "Plus, the geth outnumber us and can build new platforms far faster than any organic being can grow to adulthood, join the military, receive the necessary training, and replace soldiers who have been killed in action. If this turns into an all-out war, my people are going to be in _serious_ trouble."

"Damn." Sidonis stared at the floor and rubbed a talon slowly over his chin.

"Yeah. I have to face facts-war with the geth would be the shortest path to extinction." _And if the rumors I've heard about the Admiralty Board trying to pass a resolution to retake our homeworld by force are true ... _ She kept it to herself. Even if Weyland and Yutani really did want peace, letting either platform overhear talk of the Admiralty's plans could throw their good intentions right out the airlock.

She stood again and pointed at one of the kiosks beside Weyland. "Think I'll see if any dextro-based drinks are on the menu. Want something?"

"Not now, but thanks."

She nodded and walked over to the kiosk. _I hope Chula and the others are having better luck than I am._

#

_"Woooo-hoooooo!"_ Dakka grinned and tightened her grip on her handhold as the Mako launched off another low cliff. She swung her rotary cannon up, sprayed a burst of incendiary rounds at the four pursuing gunships, and laughed when one of the lead ship's engines exploded.

The gunship began to tumble out of control before the Mako plunged back toward the ground. For a moment, she felt as if both stomachs were about to launch into her throat.

Takahashi tapped the ventral thrusters to reduce the impact when the Mako's six wheels touched down. It was still quite a jolt, though, and Dakka slammed into the roof and nearly dropped her gun.

"Ow," she muttered. _If I wasn't wearing armor, that would've knocked me stupid._

"Gah," their batarian passenger, Goresk, grunted. "I feel like I'm about two centimeters shorter now."

His sedated buddy moaned softly.

A horrendous crash behind Dakka made her snap her head around and raise her gun. She caught a glimpse of the gunship scraping across the ground, flipping over and shedding parts, before it carved a trench through a patch of trees.

Dakka shifted her aim to the next nearest gunship just as it opened fire. A hail of disruptor rounds whittled away at the Mako's kinetic barriers as well as her own.

"We're minutes away from the spaceport," Benny said over the comlink. Suddenly, his tone changed. "Uh, Mal, there's a canyon up ahead. Shouldn't you be, y'know, slowing down?"

The Mako accelerated.

Dakka arched a brow ridge and then shrugged and blasted away at the gunship.

"It'd take too long to go around," Takahashi said. "It's narrow enough, so hold on tight, everyone-I'm gonna jump it."

"Al_right_!" Dakka laughed, holstered her cannon on her back, and clamped both hands onto the roof handholds.

The roaring whoosh of a rocket launching came from above and behind her. Before she could look over her shoulder, the rocket plowed into the ground directly ahead of the Mako.

Benny shrieked as the vehicle spun left and skidded toward the ravine. It tipped up on its three passenger-side tires.

"Shit!" Takahashi bellowed.

_Oh, hell. It's gonna roll-right on top of me._ Dakka tightened her grip and clenched her teeth.

Takahashi hit the thrusters again and the Mako fired itself across the ravine-sideways. While still rolling. Dakka looked up and saw the ground spinning past her, followed a second later by the sky.

_Wonderful. If this thing lands upside-down, I'm fucked._

Goresk screamed like a little girl.

The ground came into view again, the trees at the bottom of the ravine pointing straight at Dakka-and then, in the corner of her eye, the opposite cliff.

_I'll be damned._

The Mako crossed over the edge of the cliff and the wheels slammed down on a huge slab of rock. Dakka flopped onto the roof again and lurched sideways.

Takahashi steered to the right to prevent the vehicle from rolling again, and stomped on the accelerator.

Dakka managed to secure her grip on the roof, glanced over her shoulder at the ravine, and shook her head slowly.

_Well. Fuck me sideways._

"Did ... did that really happen?" Chula mumbled.

Dakka burst out laughing. "It sure as hell did!"

"Never do that again," Benny muttered. "Seriously, I think you scared about twenty years off my life."

"Blame that rocket, not me," Takahashi said.

"If you hadn't taken a different route back to town-"

"Again, blame the rockets and gunfire." Takahashi released a nervous laugh. "Cheer up, honey, we're almost there."

Dakka fired another burst at the gunships and looked ahead as the Mako left the forest behind and hit a metal ramp leading to a large gate.

"You okay, Dakka?" Quint said.

"Never better." She laughed again. "That was fuckin' _awesome_!"

He chuckled. "Still being alive afterward-_that's_ what's awesome."

Dakka grinned and turned back to the gunships.

They'd slowed almost to a complete stop.

"Ha! Not so tough now that you're about to have a few hundred witnesses."

"They're backing off?" Takahashi said.

"More like pausing to consider their options. I figure they'll land and come after us on foot."

"We're heading straight for the spaceport, then." Takahashi sighed. "Let's get the hell out of here."

#

"There it is." Chula pointed at the UT-47 Kodiak drop shuttle they'd arrived in only a few hours ago. She gave the area ahead a quick visual scan and turned to check behind her crewmates, clients, and passengers for signs of pursuit.

And there they were-over a dozen Cerberus troops in their all-too-familiar gray armor, pushing their way through the crowd of people walking toward their own ships.

"Better pick up the pace," Chula said, reaching under her duster but hesitating to actually draw any of her guns with innocent bystanders in the way.

Benny, Takahashi, Quint, Dakka, Magnum, and Yutani increased their speed, but the crates they carried prevented them from going all-out.

"Actually," Goresk muttered as he hauled the sedated batarian over his shoulder, "I hope dropping us off at the Citadel wouldn't be too much to ask. I'd prefer not to stick around with a small army crawling around here."

"I think we can handle that." Chula planted herself between them and the oncoming troops. "The Citadel has better medical facilities for your friend, anyway."

"Hey, guys," a new voice said, and Chula took a quick glance over her shoulder. She found a human and a turian, each carrying a backpack, walking toward them from the left.

"Hey." Dakka grinned. "Great seeing you again. Wish I could see that show you invited me to, but something came up." She nodded at the Cerberus goons charging across the hangar toward them.

_Oh, the porn stars we saw at the party._ Chula laughed softly. _Didn't recognize them without their costumes._

"Don't worry about it," the human-Irving Kostmeyer, Chula remembered-said. "We had to postpone it. Family emergency on the Citadel."

"You wouldn't happen to be heading there, would you?" the turian-Valeria Terakkis-–added.

"We are, but-"

"We need to get there as quickly as we can, but there aren't any flights that aren't already booked up."

"I wish we could, but we're kinda on the run from some bad guys. Don't want to put you in any danger."

"Freeze!" one of the Cerberus guys snapped. His team closed in and aimed their assault rifles. "Put the crates down. Now!"

"Cerberus," Valeria snarled.

Chula glanced at her. "Sorry, guys, but you should get out of here before they start shooting." She wrapped her fingers around her hand cannon and continued backing toward the shuttle. "Keep going, guys," she said to her crewmates. "I'll cover you."

"Last chance," the lead Cerberus man said. He stepped past Valeria and Irving, ignoring them and keeping his aim locked onto Chula.

"These guys giving you a hard time?" Irving said with a slight smirk. He and Valeria walked along beside them.

"You could say that. They've been trying to kill us and steal our client's stuff."

"Better keep out of the way," Dakka said as they reached the shuttle.

"Actually, we really do need to get to the Citadel as quickly as possible." Valeria glanced around, taking in the troops, the shuttle, and the nearby rail along the edge of the docking platform. "We'd be more than happy to pay you for a lift."

"Get the fuck out of our way," a nearby goon snapped. He backhanded Valeria-but she blocked it, grasped his arm, twisted and spun, using his own momentum and boosting it with a good, hard shove, sending him flying over the rail.

His scream ended abruptly with a loud _crunch_.

"Uh-oh," Dakka muttered.

The goons snapped their guns around to aim at Valeria.

Yutani placed her crate gently on the floor, pulled out her plasma shotgun, and turned to face the enemy troops.

Chula whipped out her pistol and a submachine gun from under her duster.

The guy closest to Valeria aimed at her head. His finger tightened on the trigger.

Valeria shoved her hand under her cloak, whipped out her own hand cannon, and drilled the man through his left eye socket. It happened as fast as lightning striking. The guy collapsed and his buddies stared at him as he fell.

_Okay. I wasn't expecting that._ Chula shook herself out of it and focused on the mooks.

Dakka put her crate down, pulled the rotary cannon from her back, and leveled it at them. She growled and they turned to face her.

"Think it over."

They stared back at her, exchanged glances with one another, and finally lowered their weapons.

"Shit." One of them hung his head and sighed.

One by one, they dropped their guns and raised their hands.

"Go ahead and load your stuff on the shuttle," Valeria said. "I'll keep 'em covered."

"So will I." Chula nodded at the others and kept her guns on the Cerberus men. "Better hurry, guys; that gunshot couldn't have gone unnoticed."

"On it." Dakka picked her crate up and carried it to the shuttle, followed by the rest of the team.

"That was pretty impressive," Chula said. "But you just made yourself a target."

"I've been in worse situations," Valeria said.

"She used to be a Spectre," Irving added.

"Seriously?" Chula glanced at him and grinned. "A Spectre turned porn star? I bet there's an interesting story behind that."

Valeria shrugged. "Don't know how interesting it might be, but I'd be happy to tell you on the way to the Citadel."

Chula turned to give Yutani a quick look. The geth nodded and Dakka grinned.

"Welcome aboard."


	12. Chapter 12

"We're under way." Chula crossed the _Sulaco_'s small lounge and sank onto the couch at the end of the room. The rest of the crew, minus Yutani, plus five of their passengers, took up the rest of the couch and the chairs placed around the lounge. She pointed at her visor and added, "No sign of pursuit yet. I'm linked with the sensor array; it'll alert me if that changes. We should arrive at the Citadel in a few hours."

"Good to know." Valeria tucked her feet under her and leaned on her husband's shoulder. He slipped his left arm around her and put his other hand on hers.

"How's Kolos doing?" Goresk said, sitting on the chair in the corner and staring at nothing in particular. He held a tumbler loosely in his left hand, but appeared to have forgotten it was there.

"Still sedated. Yutani's keeping an eye on him." Chula shivered. "I still can't get over his little freak-out back there, so I can only imagine how long it'll take _him_ to recover."

"Yeah. I'm not handling it too well, myself." Goresk glanced over at Malcolm and Benny, sitting on the other couch. "I wish we hadn't gotten anywhere near that damned cave."

"Sorry about your crew," Benny said.

Goresk nodded but said nothing.

"I know it may not be much comfort," Chula said, "but the recordings and artifacts in that cave might turn out to be vitally important for the whole galaxy. If the things Benny saw in those vids are what I think they are, maybe there's some information in the rest that'll give us a fighting chance if they invade again."

"Well, maybe then it won't be completely senseless." Goresk sighed, appeared to remember the drink in his hand and chugged it. He stood and walked over to the bar on the opposite end of the lounge. He picked up one of the bottles, stared at it, and changed his mind. He placed the bottle and his tumbler on the bar and returned to his seat. "Before I lose myself in disturbing thoughts again and forget to say this, thank you for taking me and Kolos with you. Those people might've killed us just to get rid of any witnesses."

"Cerberus has been known to do things like that, and worse." Chula smiled and nodded at him. "It was the least we could do. I've been in need of rescue before, so I don't leave anyone behind if there's any way to avoid it."

"We should thank you, too," Irving said. "Who knows how long it would've taken for us to book a flight if we hadn't run into you?"

"Glad it worked out," Dakka said. "You mentioned a family emergency. What kind of emergency, if you don't mind me asking? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"Well, we just need to talk with C-Sec about something."

"Ah. Need someone's skull cracked open? That's one of the things we do for a living."

"Within reason," Chula added with a chuckle. "We're not thugs or assassins, but if someone really has it coming, we're not opposed to giving it to them."

"We'd prefer to take care of it legally." Valeria chuckled. "But for some reason C-Sec is dragging their heels, so if that approach doesn't work out, I can put the skills from my previous job to good use."

"My grandmother would be happy to help out." Irving grinned and looked back to the crew. "She's the emergency, actually. She recently witnessed a hit-and-run by a criminal operating in Zakera Ward, and he's already sent some of his goons after her. So far, she's been pretty patient, but we're worried she'll tear the Citadel apart with her bare hands if the authorities don't get off their asses soon."

Dakka grinned and leaned forward. "That sounds promising."

Valeria laughed again. "Irv's grandmother is General Natalie Kurakova. Well, she's been retired a long time, but she still kicks ass. She fought in the First Contact War."

"_Oh_." Goresk waved a hand at Irving. "I bet that made things a little awkward with your guy."

Chula nodded slowly, remembering what she'd learned about the First Contact War when she was growing up. Triggered by a turian attack on human explorer ships at Mass Relay 314, it lasted only three months, but there were people on both sides who refused to let go of their grudges even after nearly thirty years.

"Yeah, she wasn't happy when she found out I was dating a turian. Even more so when she found out what we were doing for _Fornax_." Irving shrugged and grinned. "She eased up when she learned that she and Val see eye-to-eye on the war."

"Irv has people in his family who won't talk to him anymore because he married me, and I have several family members who shun me for the same reason. Several others had already kicked me to the curb when I disagreed with them about my people's actions during the Relay 314 Incident." Valeria sighed. "Granted, reactivating a dormant relay could be extremely dangerous-for all you know, it was deactivated to prevent some sort of vast army from invading and wiping out a less-advanced species. But the turian fleet simply opened fire on the humans instead of contacting them, telling them to stop, and explaining _why_ they wanted 'em to stop. The humans were explorers and were just curious to see where the relay led. They'd never met any aliens before, so they had no way to know that switching on inactive mass relays was illegal under Citadel law."

"Yeah, legally, the turians were within their rights, since to them it was simply a police action. But come on, it wouldn't have killed them to warn the humans instead of just opening fire."

"Exactly!"

Irving patted his wife's hand. "Anyway, Grandma warmed up to Val quite a bit when they started talking about the war. I was nervous about inviting her to our wedding, but she said she'd never have forgiven me if I hadn't."

"She's my 'Nana!'" Valeria giggled.

Dakka uttered a soft "squee" sound and Quint glanced at her, raised an eyebrow, and snickered. He put his arm around her and finished off his mug of coffee.

"It's good to see that some people are able to overcome their differences and let go of old grudges." Chula's thoughts returned to the situation with her people and the geth, the possibility of the quarians using a stealth ship for sneak attacks on the geth, and her comment to Lia that both species would likely remain enemies forever unless one or the other came to its senses and put the past where it belonged.

Magnum stood, stretched, and headed for the bar to refill her tumbler.

"So." Dakka rubbed her hands together. "How'd you decide to change careers from Special Tactics and Recon to photo shoots and vids for _Fornax_?"

"Heh." Valeria shrugged. "Being a Spectre was great at first. They're answerable only to the Council, and there's definitely something to be said for the authority to take action without having to deal with endless bureaucracy. Think of all the horrible things you can prevent and all the lives you can save that would be lost if you had to go through all the red tape. But being above the law also makes Spectres incredibly dangerous. I reached a point where I wasn't comfortable with it anymore."

"Guess I can understand that," Magnum said. "Especially after what happened with Saren Arterius."

"Saren's kind of an extreme case, but yeah. I had a bad feeling about him the moment I met him. Nobody would listen to me, though, possibly because I was new to the Spectres at the time. There were a few others I didn't trust. One in particular named Tela Vasir set off all sorts of red flags in my head when someone introduced me to her, but again, nobody else wanted to hear my opinion. Then Saren led the attack on the Citadel and cleared the way for Sovereign two years ago, and I decided to pull the ripcord. Technically, I'm on an indefinite leave of absence, but I have no intention of going back."

"Huh." Goresk shrugged. "I've had to work with my share of vicious assholes. You just get through it as best you can and move on once you get paid."

"Well, the thing with Saren was simply the last straw. I'd put in my fifteen years of military and civil service just like any other turian." Valeria looked away and sighed. "The last three years of which I spent doing what humans call 'wetwork' operations."

"Hmm. I'm not familiar with the term," Benny said.

Quint glanced at him and said, "It means she killed people. Targets designated by someone above her in the chain of command, people who presumably had it coming, but-"

"Yeah, I got my hands pretty dirty. Most of my targets were genuinely horrible people, but there were a few I was never certain about. And there were several missions I didn't complete because I was sure the targets didn't deserve to be killed. Got in a bit of trouble for that, but it was one of the reasons I was considered Spectre-worthy-I don't just blindly do as I'm told. And like I said, it was great for a while, but ... well, things changed."

"So you went straight from that into porn vids?" Dakka chuckled. "Interesting career path."

"Well, not immediately. I looked into various public service jobs, but none of them would get me far enough away from the Spectres. I kind of drifted around for a few months. Did some odd jobs here and there. Then I crossed paths with a talent scout for _Fornax_. I gave it a try just for the hell of it. Didn't expect it to lead anywhere. Figured I'd do a vid or two, get laid, and collect a paycheck, then just move on to something else. But for my first vid, they paired me with Irving, and we just 'clicked.' Started hanging around together outside the job, and now we're married."

"Yeah, that's why you don't do scenes with anyone else." Dakka squeed again. "That's so _sweet_!"

Chula laughed. "Yeah, it's kind of romantic."

Valeria and Irving grinned and nuzzled each other.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, then Benny stood and stretched.

"I just realized, I should shower before we reach the Citadel. Got a little ripe camping out in that cave for several days."

"Sure," Chula said. "This ship was built for a larger crew than we have, so there are plenty of rooms. I'll make sure your clothes are laundered by the time we dock."

"Thanks." Benny glanced at Malcolm and wiggled his eyebrows. "Care to join me?"

Malcolm grinned and looked around at the others. "If you'll excuse me, we have some catching up to do."

"_Wooo!_" Dakka fist-pumped as they hurried out the door. She laughed and put her arms back around Quint.

"So," Valeria said, "I've got a question or two, if you don't mind."

"Ask away." Chula crossed her ankles and waited.

"I couldn't help noticing you appear to be working with a geth."

"Working _for_ them, actually." Chula laughed. "There's another platform with another member of our team on the Citadel. The geth own this ship, so they're sort of the captains."

Valeria and Irving stared slack-jawed at her and she laughed again.

"I've recently begun to find a perverse sort of humor in the idea of working for the geth. Or, at least, the looks on people's faces when I tell them."

"Heh. I bet. How'd it happen?"

"Kind of a long story." Chula stood and pointed at the bar. "Anyone want another drink before I start talking?"

#

Lia settled back in the lounge chair and took slow breaths. She'd used her Omni-Tool to search the Citadel's entertainment network and found a long track of gentle flute music with birdsong and distant wind in the background, and had set her envirosuit to stream it into her helmet. If no one in Huerta Memorial Hospital would tell her how Kenn was doing, there was nothing else she could do except wait.

The tension in her body evaporated slowly until she began to doze off.

Suddenly, she sensed a shadow passing over her, opened her eyes, and found Weyland standing beside her chair. Her heart pounded suddenly and she lurched upright.

"The _Sulaco_ has arrived. The crew is bringing passengers and cargo acquired on a mission. One injured party is being brought to Huerta Memorial."

"Who was hurt?" Lia stood and took a few deep breaths to slow her heartbeat.

"One of the passengers our crewmates took on. Their client's husband is also coming here to be examined. The crew will reach Citadel Security headquarters soon; they will wait there for us."

"Oh. Well, good." Lia glanced at the door leading to the operating rooms. "I guess it'll be a while longer before they're done working on Kenn, but ..."

Sidonis touched her shoulder and nodded at the admissions desk. "I'll hang around here and see if I can get someone to talk to me. Maybe I can find someone who's more reasonable than the one we spoke with a while ago. I'll let you know if they tell me anything."

"Thank you." Lia patted his hand and turned to follow Weyland. "Okay, lead the way."

#

"Nana!" Valeria jogged through the door toward a human with long, dark hair streaked with gray standing in front of the C-Sec captain's desk. The woman turned, flashed a huge grin, and held her arms out.

"Val!" The woman-Natalie Kurakova, Chula presumed-hugged her, stepped back, and hugged Irving. "It's good to see you both, though I wish the circumstances were different."

"So do we, Grandma." Irving glanced around at the C-Sec agents. "So, how're you holding up?"

"Well, I'd be doing a lot better if Captain Bailey would stop giving me the runaround." She narrowed her eyes at the guy sitting at the desk. He winced, rubbed a hand over his face, and sighed.

Valeria's good mood vanished as if someone had flipped a switch. She faced the captain, planted her clenched fists on her hips, and leaned toward him. "And _why_ is he doing that, hmm?"

_Uh-oh._ Chula took a step forward and hoped she could think of a way to defuse the situation.

The older woman rolled her eyes. "Oh, he was cooperative enough before he found out who the guy coming after me is."

Valeria kept her scowl aimed straight into Bailey's eyes. "And who would that be?"

"Elias Kelham."

Yutani stepped up beside Valeria, still wearing her Santa bikini, cloak, and hat from Takahashi's costume party. "The geth platform designated Legion has information on Elias Kelham. Shepard-Commander questioned him on one of SSV _Normandy_'s recent visits to the Citadel. He was a small-time criminal until many higher-level criminals were killed during Sovereign's attack on the Citadel two years ago. Soon after Kelham became a 'major player,' he made an arrangement with Captain Bailey."

Valeria's voice turned ice-cold. "Kelham pays him off."

Baily groaned and waved his hands. "It's just to keep things from escalating out of control. He keeps his 'business' to a reasonable level, and we don't lean on him too hard. I can put you in protective custody, but-"

"Funny what you consider 'reasonable.'" Kurakova turned back to Valeria. "I witnessed Kelham run down a turian civilian with his personal rapid-transit car. He plowed right into the poor guy, parked, got out of his car and walked away as if nothing had happened."

Valeria turned to glare at Bailey again. "If I were still a Spectre, I'd relieve you of command and throw your ass into one of your own cells."

"Now, hold on just a minute!"

"Did the turian survive?" Chula said to the woman.

"He's in one of Huerta Memorial's intensive care units. Last I heard, he's got a fifty-fifty chance of pulling through."

"First that, then he goes after my Nana because she saw it happen." Valeria stared at Bailey and her mandibles vibrated with her anger. "And you still just sit on your ass and do nothing about it?"

"Listen, it's not like I don't _want_ to, it's just-"

She turned away from him. "Nana, for you, I'll contact the Council and have them temporarily reactivate my Spectre status. Then I can take care of this legally."

"I'd definitely be grateful," a new voice said. From its slight flanging sound, Chula could tell it was another turian. She leaned over to see past Dakka and found another C-Sec agent walking over to stand beside Bailey's desk.

"You would?" Valeria crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

"My father and I know General Kurakova and have the utmost respect for her." The turian waved a hand at her Nana. "I'm familiar with her military record. It's _very_ impressive. My father's squadron faced her in battle on Shanxi. He was the only one who survived."

Dakka looked at Kurakova and whistled softly. "I bet _that's_ a hell of a story."

"Oh, I was just a soldier doing her job." She smiled at the young turian. "Good to see you again, Tarsus. I didn't know you were stationed here."

"Just transferred here a few days ago, right before this whole mess started." Tarsus turned to Dakka and chuckled. "It's definitely a hell of a story. Dad never gets tired of telling it. It was one of the last ground battles of the First Contact War. His squadron was strafing the General's position and she knocked out their kinetic barriers with her Omni-Tool on their first pass. While they got into position for a second run, she walked right out into the open and lined up a shot on the squad leader with an anti-material sniper rifle. Punched clean through her canopy, through her forehead, out the back of her skull, and drilled into the back of her seat. Her fighter veered into her wingman and knocked him out of the sky. And as the rest of the squadron zipped straight toward her, the General just calmly lined up another shot."

_Wow._ Chula turned to stare at Kurakova. In the corner of her eye, Dakka aimed a star-struck gaze at the retired general while Tarsus continued.

"She stood her ground while they opened fire on her, and shot down all of them except my father before their shields could recharge. Without even blinking. Headshot after headshot-again and again and _again_, until my father was the only one left. Then her rifle overheated or malfunctioned, and couldn't fire again." He shook his head slowly. "Dad was almost on top of her at that point. She didn't flinch, didn't hesitate. She dropped the rifle, drew her sidearm, and aimed it right at the cockpit. He veered off, landed, got out of his fighter, and surrendered."

Dakka let out another soft squeeing sound. "That's _awesome_!"

Kurakova looked away and blushed.

"Dad certainly thought so. He said many times that after what he saw her do, she _deserved_ victory." Tarsus chuckled. "I think that's only part of it, though. I'm pretty sure he shat in his armor when she pointed that pistol at him."

Kurakova's blush deepened. "Merely doing what I was sent there to do."

"But you did it so _awesomely_!" Dakka grinned. "At that moment, you were the baddest motherfucker on the entire planet. There have been krogan warlords throughout history who probably would've had second thoughts about engaging you in battle." She turned to Quint and said, "It's like the day you faced that geth Colossus on Virmire. Are you and the general related, by any chance?"

"No, but I wouldn't mind at all if we were."

"Holy shit," Bailey muttered. He looked up at Kurakova and sighed. "I'm sorry, ma'am. If the situation with Kelham weren't so delicate, I'd-"

"Doesn't matter," Valeria said. "I never wanted to be a Spectre again, but I'll do whatever it takes to bring this man to justice before he takes another shot at Nana."

"Hey, like I said before, if you could use a hand with this, I'm available." Dakka grinned again. "This kind of thing is what we do, after all."

"You're mercs?" Bailey said.

"You could say that."

"Hmm." Bailey lowered his voice. "Actually, we have some reserve funds for ... special operations. I'd be as happy to finally be rid of Kelham's crew as the next guy, so if you could handle that without tipping him off that C-Sec had anything to do with it, you could have yourselves a bonus."

"Sounds good."

"Count me in." Chula stepped up beside Dakka.

"Me, too." Quint slipped his arm around Dakka's waist.

"One thing," Chula said, looking around at the others. "Some of us should stay behind to help guard our clients and their cargo."

"We have informed Weyland," Yutani said. "They will guard our clients. We will protect the cargo while it is transported from its secured location to the scientists Mr. Takahashi contacted, and guard it after delivery."

Valeria sighed. "I don't want to place anyone else at risk, but Irving will worry himself sick if I turn your offer down."

"I know you can take care of yourself," Irving said, holding his wife's hands. "But it's been a while since you've done any fighting, and we don't know what kind of opposition you'll be facing. I'd feel better if you've got some support out there."

She nodded. "Okay, if it'll keep you from worrying."

"It will." He smiled and traced a fingertip along one of the neon-red stripes tattooed on her face. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She nuzzled him and turned to look at Tarsus. "I don't suppose you know where I could get my hands on some turian armor?"

"I do, actually." He nodded over his shoulder. "This way."

"Looks like we've got ourselves a new gig already." Dakka beamed and rubbed her hands together.

Kurakova cleared her throat. "Bailey, how about a set of human armor?"

Irving stared at her, slack-jawed. "Grandma?"

"Hey, this guy tried to have me whacked. There's no way I'm sitting this one out."

"Come on, how long has it been since you've seen any combat?"

"Not so long that I can't remember how to fight."

Bailey pointed in the direction Tarsus and Valeria had walked. "If you'll follow the Lieutenant, you'll find everything you need."

"Thank you." Kurakova turned and strode away without another word.

Dakka stared at her, giggled, and thumped her right fist into her left palm. "This is gonna be _glorious_!"


	13. Chapter 13

"This is gonna suck," Valeria grumbled.

Chula, Dakka, Quint, Lia, and General Kurakova stood behind her and stared out across the restaurant. Dakka turned to Valeria and cocked her head.

"Why's it gonna suck?"

Valeria nodded at a turian seated at a table on the far end of the room. "Councilor Sparatus is the only one who'll talk to me. Looks like he wants to make me beg for my job back in public."

"I've heard about this guy before," Chula said, recalling the reports she'd read of the councilor's interactions with Commander Shepard and his crew. "He's kind of a dick, isn't he?"

"Oh, yeah. He doesn't like humans, though _most_ of the time he doesn't let that get in the way of his job. I've clashed with him before, though, so I'm already on his shitlist. You'll see it firsthand if you can hear our conversation from here." Valeria sighed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find out how much shit he's gonna make me eat in front of everyone."

General Kurakova put her hand on Valeria's shoulder. "You sure you don't want me to go with you?"

"Thanks, but this is one of those things I have to face on my own." She patted Kurakova's hand and strode between the tables until she reached Sparatus.

He looked up before she arrived at his table, and Chula turned up her suit's audio pickups to listen in on their conversation.

"Ah, Terakkis. Or, I suppose I should say, 'Ms. Kostmeyer.'" He uttered the last name as if it had just emerged from someone's ass.

"Councilor." She remained stoic, refusing to let him get a rise out of her. "If you recall our conversation on the comm-"

"Oh, I do." He scowled at her and his mandibles twitched. "Your arrogance is astounding, thinking you can walk on and off your job whenever you want."

"That's not why I'm doing this. I already explained my reasons."

"You think the Council will actually allow you to resume your Spectre status 'just this once,' then go back to being a porn star?" He shook his head. "No. Here's how this is going to work. If we reinstate you, it's permanent. You can't come and go whenever it's convenient for you. If we do this for you, you'll work for _us_ from now on."

Valeria winced.

"Bastard," Kurakova muttered.

"That's the deal," Sparatus continued. "If you don't like it, you can go after Kelham without any authority, and be subject to prosecution for any damage, injuries, or deaths you cause while taking him down."

"What a fucking asshole." Dakka clenched her fists. "I'd love to see him take a few dozen ax handles to the face at about three hundred kilometers per hour."

Kurakova snickered, but managed to regain her composure quickly.

"Irving and I still have a contract with _Fornax_ that we have to fulfill."

"Fine. Finish whatever contractual obligations you have, then report to the Spectre office immediately afterward. Or walk away now. What will it be?"

Valeria turned slowly to meet Kurakova's gaze, held it for a moment, then closed her eyes and slouched ever so slightly. She turned back to Sparatus and mumbled, "Agreed. We have four more vids to do, some photo sessions, and a few live perfor-"

The councilor held his hands up. "I don't need to hear any details about the things you do with that _human_. Just be ready to put it behind you once the last one is finished."

"Fine." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Kurakova rubbed a hand over her forehead. "Oh, Val."

"Very well. Consider yourself reinstated, but don't forget our agreement."

She nodded, turned, took two steps back toward the door, and stopped. She turned back to Sparatus and said, "Since you obviously dislike humans so much, take what little comfort this might offer you-thousands of one particular human's potential children die inside me every day. Y'know, when he _ejaculates_ in me. While we're _having sex_. Half a dozen times every day, average. Enjoy the rest of your meal." She turned and strode away, leaving him sitting there with his mouth hanging open in shock.

Dakka had a similar expression as she watched Valeria cross the room. "Holy shit."

"Wow," Lia said.

Sparatus shook his head, picked up his fork, and then seemed to notice something off-putting about his meal and dropped the fork beside his plate.

Chula burst out laughing. "I just noticed-the sauce on that stuff he's eating is the same color and consistency of human semen."

Dakka giggled. "Oh, that's perfect!"

Kurakova walked over to Valeria and gave her a hug. "You shouldn't have done that. We could've found another way to deal with Kelham."

"This is the only way I can think of to make sure we're all covered legally. This business with Kelham is going to be nasty. If I'm not a Spectre when we go after him, we'll be just another bunch of thugs shooting up the Citadel."

Kurakova sighed, but nodded. "Still, I'm sorry you had to do this."

"Don't be. Kelham's the one who's gonna be sorry."

"Damn right, he will."

Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Okay, what's the first move?"

"Kelham will be hard to get to, so first we track down the goon he sent after me." Kurakova smiled a cold little smile. "He'll be able to answer a few questions for us."

Valeria glanced around, leaned in closer, and lowered her voice. "How lucky we are that your friend Tarsus just happened to tell me who to look for."

Dakka chuckled and thumped her right fist into her left palm. "Let's go lean on him, then."

#

"They always run," Valeria said as they approached the Dark Star nightclub. "Be ready to block his escape, but try not to let things get out of hand. There'll be too many innocent bystanders in the way."

Lia held in a sigh and followed everyone else through the door, suspecting that things would likely get out of hand no matter what. It was simply the way her life seemed to work.

"He'll be the one who tries to sneak out the door as soon as he recognizes General Kurakova," Dakka said with a chuckle.

"Oh-and there he goes." Chula nodded at a table in the corner, where a human in a studded black vest had just looked up and frozen with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He stood, slipped behind a half-dozen people heading for the dance floor, and tried to disappear into the crowd.

Lia hesitated, unsure what to do about it. Everything she could think of came with the distinct possibility of several people being caught in the middle.

Dakka, Quint, and Chula immediately headed to the left and waited at the edge of the dance floor for him to emerge. Valeria and the general continued their approach from the right, herding their target toward the other three.

He appeared in front of Chula and froze for a second.

"Hold on." Chula raised her hands. "We just want to talk to you for a moment."

He tried to shove past her. She braced her hand on his shoulder-and he whipped out a huge knife and lashed at her. She dropped into a crouch and the knife slashed through the air a few centimeters above her hat.

She punched him in the crotch, wrenched the knife from his hand as he fell, and stood. She dropped the knife into a pocket and adjusted the angle of her hat.

Everyone nearby took a few steps back. A turian strode toward Chula, but backed off when Valeria showed her Spectre ID.

"Official business." Valeria grasped the man's arm, hauled him up, and headed for the door. "Let's find a nice, private place to talk." She half-dragged him outside and the team followed, leaving everyone else gaping at the door.

Valeria led them to a hallway nearby, at the end of which was a set of restrooms. Chula leaned over to Lia and said, "These places are great for beating the shit out of someone without breaking the bones in your hands. _Lots_ of hard surfaces."

"Ah. Good to know."

The thug's eyes opened wider and he tried to yank his arm out of Valeria's grasp. She opened the door by shoving him face-first into it. Once inside, she turned and slammed him into the metal wall.

Lia glanced around to see if anyone else was in the room. It appeared to be empty, at least for the moment.

"Now, then." Valeria pinned him to the wall with her left forearm across his throat. "Jared Schofield. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

"I-I-I don't know what you're-"

"Don't even start that. I recognize you from security cameras all over Zakera Ward and I scanned your DNA already. It matches what C-Sec has on file from all your previous arrests."

He winced and stopped resisting. "Okay, fine. What do you want?"

Kurakova stepped forward and glared at him. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Look, lady, it was nothing personal. I was just doing what I was told."

"Yes, but you certainly seemed to be enjoying it." Kurakova drew her hand cannon and jammed it against the side of his head. "We know Kelham gave the order. We want him. You're not getting off the hook, but maybe we'll go easy on you if tell us where he is."

Schofield snorted. "Fuck you, lady."

Valeria head-butted him into the wall. He collapsed with a groan and she hauled him up and threw him across the wash basins. She waited for him to regain his senses and snarled, "No, fuck _you_."

Dakka laughed and leaned over him. "You gonna tell her what she wants to know, or are you gonna let _me_ have a go at you?"

He stared nervously at her, but pulled himself together and sneered at Kurakova. "The hit on you is still on, you know. The second I get loose-"

"Holy shit, _really_?" Dakka glanced around at the others and shook her head. "Kelham didn't hire this guy for his brains."

"Alright, you had your chance, Schofield. We'll find Kelham without your help." She jerked him back to his feet, drew her gun, and shoved it under his chin. Her talon tightened on the trigger.

"_Wait!_" Schofield squeezed his eyes shut and cringed. "Alright, alright! He's got a little setup in one of the most damaged sections of Tayseri Ward. He's been spending a lot of time there lately-I don't know why. All I know is, that's where he's been since he found out someone witnessed his little hit-and-run."

"Well, isn't _that_ interesting? Most of Tayseri Ward has been closed for repairs since the Reaper and geth attack in 2183." Valeria glanced around at the others. "When Sovereign exploded, the wreckage impacted all along the entire Ward. It's been two years, and some parts of it still don't have power restored. _Very_ interesting place for a criminal to hang around."

"He's gone to ground," Lia said. "Waiting for Schofield to take care of his witness."

"And I'm not the only one," Schofield said, still cringing and trembling. "Since I didn't get it done, he'll have others looking for her."

"Any specific people we should keep an eye out for?" Valeria pressed the barrel of her gun a little harder into his chin. He rattled off a list of names and Lia recorded them in her Omni-Tool. Valeria nodded at her and turned back to Schofield. "Where in Tayseri Ward is he holed up?"

He mumbled an address and Lia noted it down.

"And what kind of opposition should we expect there?"

"A couple of his lieutenants and maybe a couple dozen guys."

"Armed with what?"

"Submachine guns and assault rifles, mostly. Hand cannons, too. I think a few of 'em might have grenade or rocket launchers."

"What about mech support?" Dakka said. "LOKI or YMIR units, that sort of thing?"

"Not as far as I know, but he's used them before."

"Okay, then. _If_ you're telling us the truth." Valeria jammed her gun right between his eyes.

"I am! I swear! _Jesus!_"

"Okay. Just one last thing." Valeria shoved him face-first into the counter between two wash basins, grabbed his right arm, and bent it so his hand was nearly touching his shoulder and his elbow jutted out over the sink.

"Wait-what the hell are you doing?" He sucked in several quick breaths and his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.

"_This_ is for hurting my Nana." Valeria placed the business end of her gun against the side of his elbow and pulled the trigger.

Lia _almost_ turned away in time to miss the shot. _Oh, hell._

Valeria put her gun back on her hip and walked out the door, leaving Schofield sprawled on the floor, screaming.

Kurakova crouched beside him, pointed at the door, and said, "You mess with me, you mess with my whole family." She stood and followed her granddaughter-in-law back into the corridor, and the others filed out after her.

"Keelah," Lia muttered.

"Nice," Dakka said with a chuckle. "Arresting him after that would just be rubbing salt in the wound."

Kurakova nodded. "I think this is payback enough."

"Okay, then." Chula pushed her hat forward a bit. "Let's go find Kelham."

#

"How are they?" Goresk rose to his feet and Takahashi followed almost immediately. Weyland merely turned his head to watch the doctor as she walked over to them.

"Well, Mr. Culver appears to be in good condition." Dr. Michel smiled at Takahashi. "We're keeping him under observation until morning just to be sure, but his brain shows no signs of having been altered by whatever he found in that cave, and his psych eval was well within normal parameters." She turned to Goresk and said, "I'm sorry to say that your friend is in more serious condition. He's showing symptoms of severe depression, and will need extended care."

"I'm not surprised." Goresk sighed. "He was affected by one of the arti-" He cut himself off, looked around, leaned closer to the doctor, and said in a lower voice, "Actually, Malcolm, here, might prefer to discuss it in private. A lot of the wrong people finding out what his husband found caused some of the problems he and the others had there."

"Quite right. Thanks, Goresk. I hadn't even thought of that."

"It's alright. You've got a lot on your mind."

"Okay." Michel waved her hand at the door. "We can talk in my office."

"Thank you, Doctor." Takahashi glanced at Weyland.

"We will remain here to guard Benny."

"Thank you." Takahashi smiled, followed Michel to the door, then stopped and turned back when Goresk stayed where he was. "You're not coming?"

"Well, given what happened back there, I wasn't sure you'd want me around."

"Nah, I'm okay with it. You might have information that can help, too. Come on."

Goresk nodded and followed them through several more doors and into a private office. Michel closed the door and motioned at a pair of chairs in front of her desk.

"Okay, then." She sat behind her desk. "Can you tell me exactly what happened in that cave?"

"I don't think either of us is certain." Goresk took a deep breath and rubbed his hands over his face. "Benny found a collection of artifacts in the cave, and when my team charged in to steal them, one of the things was triggered. I managed to get out in time, but the rest were all exposed to something that made them kill themselves."

Takahashi leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees and lacing his fingers together. "Benny found the cave several days earlier. He said that when he got close enough to it, something started affecting his mind, filling him with an increasing feeling of dread, like something was trying to trigger a fight-flight response. The mercs I hired to move the artifacts didn't mention feeling the same thing, and I didn't feel it when I approached the cave. So maybe it only affects certain people, or maybe it turned off once he entered the cave. I don't know."

"And Kolos was exposed to the same thing that turned the rest of the crew suicidal?"

"Yeah." Goresk shivered. "He was trying to blow his own head off when Malcolm's mercs found us. One of them, a quarian, disarmed him and knocked him out before he could finish himself off. He wouldn't stop crying and babbling about something that's coming to kill everyone."

"Some of the things Benny found there were vid records about an ancient machine race invading the galaxy, harvesting some of the most advanced races, and simply exterminating the rest. We're thinking whatever affected Kolos was something similar-a record of a galaxy-wide extinction, uploaded directly into his brain, somehow." Takahashi shook his head slowly.

"Huh." Michel leaned forward. "I've heard of something like this before, I think."

"Yeah, Chula-one of the people I hired-mentioned a few people who ran into stuff like this a couple years ago. A quarian who served on the SSV _Normandy_, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, made official reports to the quarian Admiralty Board and the heads of the Alliance; you can probably find a lot of this stuff in those reports-at least, the parts that haven't been redacted. And another crew member, Dr. Liara T'Soni, has a lot of information on this."

Michel nodded. "I've spoken with them and several other members of the _Normandy_ crew. Now I know why this sounded familiar. A Prothean beacon had been excavated on Eden Prime not long before a group of rogue geth attacked the colony. The beacon transferred memories of the fall of the Prothean civilization directly into Commander Shepard's mind. That sounds very much like what happened to Kolos."

"Yeah, it does." Goresk rubbed at a tense spot between his upper eyes. "I've heard about Shepard. He seemed to recover quickly, since he went right back into action."

"I don't know the details, but it's possible that something about his brain in particular was _exactly_ right for the information transfer to happen without causing permanent damage. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to refer this case to Dr. Karin Chakwas, the chief medical officer on the _Normandy_. She treated Shepard after his exposure to the beacon, and was on the ship through all the following missions, on up through the battle at the Citadel. She and the other command staff of the _Normandy_ know more about this than anyone else."

"I don't really know Kolos very well, but if this'll help him recover and help you figure out what's going on with those records, then go right ahead."

"Thank you." Michel turned to Takahashi. "When Dr. Chakwas hears about this, she'll probably want to have a look at Mr. Culver. If you're still here the next time the _Normandy_ docks at the Citadel ..."

"We can hang around here until we find out when she wants to meet us, then we can either do it here or back on Bekenstein."

"Good. I'll let you know as soon as I get a reply from her."

Takahashi nodded, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I have a feeling we're gonna be opening a huge can of worms with this."

Goresk shook his head. "If this is what we think it is, then that can of worms was opened a _billion_ years ago, or more."

#

"This is as close as we can get without being noticed." Valeria lowered the rapid transit car to the parking platform and shut the engine down. She, Kurakova, and Dakka got out and stretched.

The second car landed a few meters away. Lia, Chula, and Quint joined the other three and looked around.

"Doesn't look too bad from here," Quint said. "Just looks like any other parking lot. Only, y'know, empty. With a little rubble and a few holes in the floor."

"This is the last partially intact section of Tayseri Ward." Valeria put on her helmet and pointed at the far end of the platform. "Through that door, there's nothing but rubble that hasn't been cleaned up yet. No power, either. The repair crews haven't gotten this far."

Dakka pulled up a floorplan on her Omni-Tool. "There's a little over a kilometer of severe damage between us and a somewhat more intact section that Kelham's using as his hideout. Some of the buildings are mostly intact, others are only half-destroyed, so there'll be enough cover."

General Kurakova put her helmet on, grinned, took the lead, and pulled the Mattock assault rifle from her back. "Let's go say hi."

They passed through the door and began climbing over rubble or making their away around larger chunks. Everyone remained silent, scanning every few minutes for cameras or enemy scouts.

"Nice place," Quint finally muttered as they passed a particularly large slab of what used to be a skyscraper.

"_Ecch_," Dakka grumbled. "It reminds me of Tuchanka. _Fuck_ that planet."

"That's your home, though." Valeria glanced over her shoulder at Dakka.

"The _Sulaco_ is my home. Tuchanka is just the place where I spent the first ninety years of my existence. My life didn't truly begin until I left and never looked back. Which brings me back to, _Fuck_ that planet."

"Huh. Interesting." Valeria chuckled and continued on silently.

They had almost reached the edge of Kelham's territory when Kurakova abruptly held up a clenched fist. Everyone froze. She pointed off to the right. Dakka turned in that direction and her helmet zoomed in and amplified what little light was available.

_Ah-hah._ Two humans carrying rifles stood on the balcony of what used to be an apartment building, ten floors above the ground. They leaned against the rail, staring out over the landscape and looking bored as all hell.

Everyone ducked behind a pile of wrecked rapid-transit cars. Chula leaned out long enough to take a look at the terrain ahead of them.

"They'll see us if we go any farther."

"I've got this." Dakka crept off to the right and headed for the building.

"I don't know about this," Kurakova said softly. "Krogan aren't known for being stealthy."

"Dakka's not your typical krogan." Quint had an audible grin in his voice. "Though, to be fair, the last time she tried to sneak up on someone, she startled him at the last second and he blew himself up with his own grenade launcher."

Kurakova tried to hold in a snicker. "Sorry I wasn't there to see it."

"Dakka sure thought it was funny."

_Hell yeah, I did._ She kept quiet and concentrated on her approach. She reached the building without making a sound, and searched for a way in. There was a ladder attached to the wall that looked promising, either part of the fire escape or for maintenance. She held on to it, put her left foot on the bottom rung, and lifted herself slowly, expecting it to creak or even tear out of the wall.

It remained solid and didn't make a sound.

She grinned and climbed the ladder until she'd reached the tenth floor. A glance to the left showed her that the two mooks were still on the balcony.

"How much longer before we're relieved?" one of them grumbled.

"Five minutes less than the last time you asked." The other guy sighed. "I dunno why we're even here. Nobody knows Kelham's here. Even if C-Sec knows, he's got their boss in his pocket, so there's really nothing to worry about."

"Eh, that's mostly because of Kelham's new associates."

_New associates? Hmm._

"Honestly, I'm okay with a boring job like this because it keeps me far away from _them_."

"Yeah, you've got a point. Those fuckers give me the creeps. I know we're all on the same page and all, but there's just _something_ about them that's a little off."

Dakka stepped off the ladder and onto a ledge under a shattered window. She grasped the sill, shimmied along the ledge to the balcony, and crouched on a large planter built into the wall, carefully positioning her feet between the overturned potted plants. She waited ten seconds, but the mooks hadn't noticed her presence.

In the most conversational tone she could manage, she said, "What's up?"

Both men screamed like little children and spun toward her, flailing their arms around and opening their eyes wide. The one on the right farted and pissed himself.

Dakka laughed at him, looked at the other guy, and waved. "Hi."

He seemed to remember the rifle in his hands, and aimed it at her. She grabbed the potted plant beside her left foot and clocked him upside the head with it.

"Bonk!"

He sprawled on the floor, out cold. Dakka giggled, tossed the shattered pot over her shoulder, and hopped off the planter. The other guy raised his gun, almost dropped it, and Dakka yanked it out of his trembling hands before he could aim it. She clamped her hand onto his shoulder.

"Hey, my friends and I would like a word with your boss. Where is he?"

"Your friends?"

"Down there." She turned him to face them and pointed. They stepped out from behind cover. Kurakova holstered her Mattock and pulled her Widow anti-material rifle from the slot beside it. Dakka pointed at her and said, "That's General Kurakova. From what I hear, she's a crack shot with that sniper rifle."

"Kura-" The guy's eyes nearly popped out of his skull again. "Oh, shit."

"Ah, you can guess why we're here, then?"

He nodded.

"Good. Then you'll take us to Kelham, won't you?"

He nodded again.

"Good." She steered him into the apartment and down the stairs. When they reached her team, she said, "This nice gentleman agreed to escort us to his employer."

"We'd really appreciate that." Valeria stepped up to him and grabbed his lapel. "In case you don't know who I am, the woman Kelham's been trying to kill is my grandmother-in-law. And I'm a Spectre." She held her pistol up in front of him, not quite aiming at him, but making sure he was aware of its presence. "Just so we know where we stand."

"I do, I do, I do! Absolutely!"

"Alright, then. Lead the way."

He nodded and walked ahead of them, leading them through the streets to a less-damaged building a few blocks away.

"Ugh," Quint grumbled. "Jesus, Dakka. Did you have to knock out the one who _didn't_ shit himself?"

"No, I had to knock out the one who was trying to shoot me."

"Okay, fair enough."

She chuckled and gave his ass a playful swat.

"We're almost there," the mook said, keeping his quavering voice low. "He's in that hotel. Lots of cushy rooms, plenty of other rooms to use as office space, storage, or whatever. Big kitchen, even several swimming pools and exercise rooms."

Dakka looked the building over. It was hard to miss the lights in some of the windows. "You got power restored here?"

"At first it was just some portable generators, but when Kelham started working with his new associates, they got the building hooked up to the Citadel power grid."

"Without the power reroute being detected?" Chula whistled softly. "Now that's impressive."

The mook pointed. "He usually stays on the top floor-well, the top _undamaged_ floor."

"Good. We'll go straight to-" Valeria stopped suddenly, looking off to the left.

Dakka turned in time to catch a glimpse of a civilian-model Mako parking in front of the hotel.

"Ah," Valeria said, "if that's still here when we drag Kelham out of his little hidey-hole, we'll have a much faster way back to civilization."

Quint snickered.

Dakka's stomachs churned at the thought of riding in one of those goddamned things. Before she could say anything about it, three more of Kelham's men got out of the Mako, two of them dragging a handcuffed man between them.

"What the hell?" Valeria drew in a sharp breath. "That's Irving!"

Dakka zoomed in on them and sure enough, the guy in handcuffs was Irving Kostmeyer. His face was bruised, his nose bleeding, and his expression dazed.

"Oh, no," Kurakova whispered.

"That son of a _bitch_ has my husband!"

Kurakova exchanged the Widow for her Mattock and checked its thermal clip. "We'll soon fix _that_."

"Goddamned right, we will." Valeria glanced around at the others and marched across the street. "Let's go."


	14. Chapter 14

"So," Lia said, "how should we play this?" She dreaded Valeria's answer.

"Fuck it." Valeria glared at the main lobby doors across the street. "We'll just go right through the front door."

"I like it." Dakka laughed.

"So do I." General Kurakova shoved their captured mook ahead of her. "Lead the way."

Val, Kurakova, and the mook crossed the street. Lia, Dakka, Quint, and Chula followed closely, glancing around every few seconds to be sure no one else was creeping up on them. The mook opened the door and walked on, shaking and grimacing. Valeria kept her left hand clamped onto his shoulder and her gun jabbed between his shoulder blades.

They passed through the lobby to a set of stairs at the far end. What little light there was came from four small lamps in each corner, just enough for Lia to see without using her visor's light-amp function. The stairs led past several floors with no light at all. Everyone remained silent for the next few minutes.

"Okay," the mook said, keeping his voice low, "two floors up from here, there's gonna be a couple guards."

"Got it." Valeria continued up the stairs. Dakka positioned herself in front of Valeria.

"Stand in a line. If they start shooting, I'm big enough to cover you."

"Thanks, but I'm not hiding from-"

Two men popped into the doorway on the next level and aimed their rifles at Dakka. She grinned at them and kept going. They glanced sidelong at each other and their eyes opened wider.

"Stop right there!" The one on the left ducked back through the doorway and leaned around barely far enough to aim his rifle.

"Nope." Dakka kept the grin on and continued advancing.

Valeria stepped out from behind Dakka and flung her mook at the two guys. He stumbled into the one on the right and both of them let out startled yelps as they crashed to the floor.

Kurakova rushed past Valeria and swatted the other guy's rifle away. He swung his left fist at her, but she caught his wrist, twisted it, and braced her other hand on the side of his head. Then she shoved him into the wall, grinding the side of his face into the metal, and gave his wrist another quarter-turn. He scrunched his face up and released a loud groan.

"We're here to see your boss," Valeria said. "Where is he?"

"Fuck y-"

Kurakova wrenched his arm farther back and increased the pressure on his head.

"_Aaaaaauuuuuuuuuugh!_"

"Shhh." Kurakova shook her head. "Answer the lady's question."

Lia forced her gaze away from them and onto the other two. Both of them had just begun to pick themselves up. The one on the right grimaced, shoved the other out of his way, and lunged at the gun he'd dropped.

Dakka stomped on his hand and pinned it down. Lia snatched his rifle, pointed it at his head, and sighed. She wasn't thrilled with being put into situations like this one, but since there was no way to avoid it, she decided to go all-in.

_At least now I won't have to spend money on a decent gun._

The guy Kurakova had pinned to the wall gasped and groaned. "I-I-I-I can't feel m-my arm!"

"I know," Kurakova said softly. "Just answer the question, and you'll be okay."

"He's-he's in the billiards parlor! The ... _ow_! Recreation area, t-two floors up!"

"That's better. Now, we're not going to kill you, but we can't have you sneaking up behind us or warning Kelham. Feel like taking a brief nap?"

"You're giving me a choice?"

"Not really." Kurakova pulled him away from the wall, clamped her arm around his neck, and bore down until he passed out. She dragged him out of the doorway, propped him up in the corner, and searched through his pockets until she found four heat sinks. She picked up his rifle and glanced up at the others. "Anybody need another one of these?"

"I could use a spare," Lia said.

"Here you go." Kurakova handed over the gun and the spare thermal clips. Lia hung the rifle on her back and pocketed the clips.

"Well," Valeria said, "you sure haven't lost your touch, Nana."

"It's coming back to me."

Dakka, still standing on the second guy's hand, swung her other foot around and connected with his jaw. He plopped face down, moaned, and faded out. Dakka searched his pockets and stole his spare thermal clips and a handful of credit chits. She handed them to Lia.

"Here, some ammo and a little spending money." Dakka picked up the guy's gun, popped the unused clips out, and stuck them into one of her belt pouches. She dropped the gun over the hand rail, sending it clattering off the rails below until it reached the ground floor.

"Aw, thank you." Lia smiled and pocketed the heat sinks and chits. _My situation may not be ideal, but I'm with good people. I need to stop complaining to myself, stop dreading everything we get into, and actually start helping them out._

Valeria turned to the remaining mook. "Nothing personal." She cocked her fist back and knocked him out cold, dragged him into the stairwell, and propped him up beside the one Kurakova had taken care of.

"Okay," Lia said, facing the doorway and trying to force some enthusiasm into her voice. "Let's go get this guy."

#

"Who do we have here?" Chula crouched beside the doorway, leaned out just enough to get a clear look at the people standing around the pool table on the far end of the recreation area, and zoomed in on them. She counted over three dozen humans, plus Elias Kelham.

Half of the humans wore Cerberus uniforms and the other half were in civilian clothing, except one who wore black armor and large goggles.

_No, not goggles._ As the guy turned to speak to Kelham, Chula realized the goggles or mask or whatever appeared to be permanently attached to his eye sockets. He had shoulder-length black hair tied into a ponytail and a smug smirk that remained in place as he talked. _That's probably permanently attached, too._

"What the hell are _those_ bastards doing here?" Lia crouched beside Chula and held her rifle ready.

"I bet those are the 'associates' that goon mentioned," Valeria muttered. "They're using Kelham's criminal organization for something."

"No wonder Baily's so reluctant to lay a hand on him." Chula pulled her glare away from the Cerberus operatives and took a slow look around. "They're probably holding something over him."

"Yeah." Quint scanned the area with his Omni-Tool and read the information on its holographic display. "Not picking up any mech support in here, but there's a half-dozen LOKIs and two YMIRs in the room behind and to the left of the dude in the armor."

The armored guy walked over to another of his men. His movement revealed a battered and bleeding man tied to a chair.

"Irving," Valeria whispered. Her grip tightened on her rifle.

"I'll cover you," Kurakova said. She raised her anti-material sniper rifle and lined up a shot.

Valeria nodded. "Let's go." Keeping her rifle up, she charged into the room with the rest of the gang close behind her. As soon as they'd passed through the door, they fanned out to cover the whole room and make themselves harder targets.

Irving noticed the sudden movement and looked up, confused at first, but then recognition flickered across his face the instant he spotted Valeria. She made a quick motion with her hand, holding it flat out, palm down, and thrusting it downward. Irving responded with a barely perceptible nod and turned away quickly. He closed his eyes and grimaced, as if struck by a sudden pain.

One of Kelham's men turned slowly, shoving a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it. He glanced up as he slipped the antique lighter back into his coat pocket-and spotted the intruders. He let out a startled grunt and whipped out a pistol.

Everyone else spun to face Chula and the rest, snapping their guns and rifles into position.

Irving braced his feet against the pool table and kicked, tipping his chair over backward. He dropped out of sight and out of the line of fire.

Still smirking, the armored man drew his sidearm.

Kurakova popped off a shot and drilled it dead-center into his chest. His kinetic barriers sparked and flared as the round punched through them. He stumbled backward, bumped into another pool table, and flopped over.

"I suggest you surrender." Valeria's helmet amplified her voice. "Kelham's the one we want. We couldn't care less about the rest of you-_unless_ you get in our way."

The guy in the black armor grunted, sat up, and shook his head to clear it. He glanced at the dent in his armor and whistled softly.

"Jesus Christ." He laughed and grabbed Kelham's arm. To the others, he snapped, "Kill those assholes." He dragged Kelham through the door at the back of the room.

_Wow._ Chula shook her head as she ducked behind a blackjack table. Anti-material rifles were designed to punch through armored vehicles. The heaviest body armor was no match for it. _This guy must have some serious shield generators._

The rest of her team took cover behind whatever was big enough.

Valeria shifted her eyes back and forth between her husband and the door Kelham had just vanished through. She snarled.

"_Damn_ it!"

"I've got him," Dakka said. "You take care of your hubby." She charged into the middle of the hostiles and knocked them aside.

Valeria glanced at Chula and said, "Back her up, just in case. We'll handle these clowns."

Chula nodded, took a split second to double-check the charge on her barriers, and said, "Back in a few minutes." She launched after Dakka. One of the Cerberus guys sung his gun toward her. She swatted it away, clamped onto his arm, spun and twisted and flipped him over her shoulder. She darted through the doorway just as he crashed down onto the pool table.

"Uh, guys," Quint said over the comlink. "That's the room filled with-"

"Mechs," Chula blurted, scooting to a stop behind Dakka. The half-dozen LOKI mechs surrounded them, and the two YMIRs stood directly ahead, towering over both of them. Each YMIR, easily twice Dakka's size, aimed their built-in cannons at the two women.

Dakka roared and charged again. She tackled the nearer YMIR and knocked if off balance. It teetered back and flailed its arms, trying to right itself. Dakka toppled it with a casual shove and turned to face the second.

Chula loaded an app into her Omni-Tool and launched it at the smaller LOKI units, taking over their functions and directing them to target the YMIR. The giant mech detected the new threat instantly and turned its attention on its smaller brethren. The hack would wear off in a few seconds, but it would keep them distracted long enough.

"Nice." Dakka laughed and sprinted through the door on the far end of the room. "Quint, we got past the mechs, but they could still be a problem once Chula's hack wears off. Be ready to use your mojo on 'em."

"Thanks for the heads-up. We'll take care of 'em."

Chula hurried after Dakka, through the door and into a stairwell. Dakka was already bounding up the stairs. She pointed as Chula caught up with her.

"Kelham's already four floors above us."

"Really? The little shit's fast."

"Not fast enough." Dakka took the stairs four at a time.

"What about the other guy? The ridiculously clichéd cyberpunk-ninja wannabe?"

"I haven't seen him. Looks like they split up." Dakka shrugged as she reached the next landing and whipped around to the next set of stairs without breaking stride. "Fuck the other guy. Kelham's the one we want."

The last set of stairs led to a door that opened onto the hotel's roof. Dakka charged through, glanced around, and pointed.

"Whoa. He just jumped across to the roof next door."

"Huh. Just from looking at him, I never would've pegged him as the Parkour type." Chula reached up to adjust the angle of her hat as they sprinted after him. "Oh, well. Let's do this."

#

Dakka landed on the shattered roof with a grunt, thrust herself forward, curled up and rolled. She came up on her feet and sprinted after Kelham. She glanced over her shoulder and found Chula picking herself up and taking off after her. Dakka faced forward and caught a glimpse of Kelham hopping over a rail and dropping out of sight.

Chunks of walls and pieces of destroyed vehicles lay between her and the rail. She continued in a straight path, leaping over the smaller rubble and jumping up, bracing one hand on the top, and vaulting over the larger bits. She reached the rail and hopped over, grabbed it with her right hand, and paused for a second to take a look around.

_There._ A blur of motion in the corner of her eye-Kelham's white jacket whipping around the corner of the alley almost directly below her.

Chula stared at the street and shook her head. "Is this guy half monkey?"

_Whatever he can do, I can do better._ Dakka flicked a glance to the left, found the cracked and crumbling wall of a parking garage within jumping distance, and pushed off. She shot across the alley as she dropped, caught hold of a ledge one level below, and jumped again, launching herself back across to the hotel. She found a handhold, dangled just long enough to brace her feet against the wall, and thrust away again, bouncing back and forth until she landed on the street.

She glanced up, saw Chula descending the same way, and charged around the corner. She stopped, scanned the broken and rubble-strewn street ahead, and a human life sign blipped up in her HUD.

"He's already on the next corner." Dakka sprinted down the street, hopping craters and vaulting or dive-rolling over destroyed vehicles and huge chunks that had been blown off nearby buildings. She turned the corner and found a set of stairs, twisted and tilted slightly by an impact two years ago. She looked past it and found Kelham had already crossed another parking lot and was now climbing through a broken-out window into a shopping mall.

"Seriously?" Chula grumbled as she caught up with Dakka. "Half monkey, half jackrabbit. _All_ asshole."

"Won't prevent the inevitable." Dakka surged forward again, jumped and braced her hands on the rail as she sailed over it. She thrust her feet forward and connected with another handrail just long enough to propel herself into the air, bypassing the staircase completely. She somersaulted and came down feet-first, rolled, and continued running.

An impact and rapid footsteps behind her told her that Chula was still keeping up.

Dakka continued on into the mall. Movement caught her eye and she looked up and to the right. Kelham charged across the catwalk on the second floor.

"Bloody hell," Chula muttered before taking several long, gasping breaths.

Kelham ducked into one of the stores.

Dakka rushed over to the wall, crouched, and leaped. She caught hold of the bars on the handrail, pulled her feet up and braced them on the ledge, and boosted herself over the rail. She bolted into the store without missing a beat.

An armored arm came out of nowhere and slammed across her chest. A second later, she was sprawled on the floor.

Lights flared on all around her and she squinted. She rolled over, crouched, and turned her head slowly.

"What the hell?"

Standing over her was the dude with the goggles surgically attached to his smirking fucking face. And, she realized, she was surrounded by more guys in armor. Slim and athletic, with blank faceplates on their helmets.

"You're pretty nimble for a krogan." The goggles dude laughed.

"You're not too shabby, yourself. Quite a trick, getting from the hotel to this place and waiting for me to show up."

"Oh, I haven't been waiting here." He rippled and suddenly Elias Kelham stood in his place.

_Oh, fuck me._ Dakka almost groaned, but held it in. _I've been chasing a hologram._

"Kelham's nowhere near us." He rippled again and Goggles was back. "You've been chasing _me_ the whole time."

"Wow," Chula grumbled as she walked over to stand beside Dakka. "What a prick."

He laughed again and pulled a sword from the scabbard on his back.

The dozen black-armored people around her and Chula drew their own swords.

"Really? Swords?" Dakka snorted. "For fuck's sake."

"Hey, don't knock it." Chula reached under her duster and pulled out two swords of her own. She turned slowly, looking around at them all before turning to face Goggles. She snapped into a battle-ready stance. "You wanna play? Let's fuckin' play."

#

The guy with the goggles burst out laughing and Chula glared at him.

"Oh, that's good!" He grinned and nodded at his squad. "But not good enough. Get rid of them, would you? I've got more important matters to attend to."

Chula took a half-second to scan him with her Omni-Tool, and his file appeared in her HUD. _Hmm. Kai Leng. Escaped from prison before finishing a twenty-year murder sentence. On multiple most-wanted lists._

She tapped her Omni-Tool, launching a surveillance drone and setting it to record whatever happened next. There had to be a sizeable bounty on this guy, and if one of them managed to take him down but not recover the body, they'd need proof to collect the reward.

"You think you're such hot shit," Dakka growled, "but you're having your flunkies do your dirty work? How about you take care of us yourself? Or are you just a big pussy?"

Chula glanced around at the others. "Pay attention, now. If your boss is a coward, maybe one of you should be in charge instead. Get rid of him, and the rest of you get an instant promotion."

They continued staring at her without turning to look at Leng. Without moving at all.

Chula had the sudden feeling that they weren't even blinking.

_Robots?_ She glanced at the nearest one's chest plate and saw it moving up and down ever so slightly. _Okay, organic, then. Probably human, but ... there's something just not _right_ about them._

"They're completely loyal." Leng smirked. "Nice try, though."

"Hey, Dakka, tell you what. How about you take this guy, and I'll take the rest."

Dakka flicked a glance at her and back to Leng. "That hardly seems fair."

"Not for _them_."

Dakka chuckled. "Okay, then."

"Want one of my swords?"

"Won't need it." Dakka grinned and faced Leng. "Let's dance."

"At least you know how to make it _fun_." Leng kept the smirk on and flicked his wrist at his goons. "Take care of the quarian. The krogan is _mine_."

The nearest cyber-ninja snapped his sword up, preparing to slice it through Chula's neck. She deflected it with the sword in her left hand and drove her other blade through his chest. The blade, designed to pierce armor, slid in cleanly. She twisted it before pulling it out and parried a blow from another mook before the first one collapsed.

She launched her combat drone and let it distract half of them by shocking one after another, leaving her to concentrate on the nearer enemies. In the corner of her eye, Leng whipped his sword at Dakka and she deflected it by slapping the blade aside with the palm of her hand. She followed it up with a closed-fisted backhand that landed with a _pop_ that echoed around the small room. He spun around, staggered, and slumped over a counter.

Chula laughed as three of her opponents charged at the same time. _Didn't expect a krogan to move that fast, did you?_ She spent a few seconds blocking and dodging their sword lunges. One of the blades hissed through the air toward her neck and she bent over backward to let it zip past her. The blade passed within a centimeter of her visor. Her hat slipped off and plopped to the floor.

She whacked the blade farther away with one of her swords and rammed the other up through the guy's chin and out the top of his helmet.

Quick glance over her shoulder to check on Dakka, just in time to see Leng take another swing at her with his sword. Dakka flicked her left arm up and the blade struck her armor and glanced off. She followed it up with a lightning-quick slap to Leng's face with a _pop_ as loud as a gunshot. The impact knocked him stupid and he stumbled off to the left and fell to his knees.

Chula's drone fired an electric arc past her and into one of her opponents just as he'd started to whip his blade at her. He convulsed, toppled over, and dropped the sword. Chula grinned and lunged at two others, managing to put them on the defensive. She drove them out of the store and backed them up against the rail.

"Behind you!" Dakka shouted.

Chula dropped to the floor immediately, not even bothering to check behind her. A blade whistled above her, followed by a gurgling scream. She looked up and found one of the guys clutching his throat, stumbling away, and collapsing. She flipped her sword around, thrust it backward, and ran it through the guy who'd just sliced his buddy's throat. Quick twist, yank, and kick, and he flopped over and pressed his hands over the wound.

Dakka landed another haymaker and Leng staggered across the room. He slumped against the wall, shook his head, and muttered, "Fucking hell."

Dakka laughed. "You're right, this _is_ fun!"

Chula grinned and continued parrying the guy in front of her. He managed to hold her off for nearly a minute before she spun and pistoned her foot into his chest. He flipped over the rail, plummeted to the floor, and landed directly on top of his head.

_Crack._

Chula turned and hurried back into the store-just in time to see Leng's blade punch through Dakka's chest and out her back.

_No!_ A cold sensation gripped Chula's heart and suddenly she couldn't breathe. She dropped her swords and pulled out one of her hand cannons.

Smirking, Leng started to pull his sword out-but Dakka clamped her left hand around his and held it there. The smirk vanished, replaced by a look of confusion which quickly turned to fear. He pulled again, but couldn't budge even a millimeter.

He glanced at her huge hand wrapping around his, braced his other hand against her chest, and tried again to yank his blade out. And again, he couldn't move, and couldn't let go. He stared up at her and some of the color drained from his face. His breathing quickened and his mouth fell open.

"Nice blade. Think I'll keep it." Dakka shoved the blade back in, all the way to the hilt, leaned over, and laughed in his face.

He turned white and moaned softly. He continued tugging, but still couldn't break away. He braced his foot on her chest and pulled, straining and groaning, but she held him in place.

She raised her right hand slowly, clenched her fist, and sneered down at him. His mouth twisted into a terrified rictus and he sucked in a trembling gasp.

_Oh, holy shit._ Chula stared and shook her head slowly.

Dakka finally launched her fist down into Leng's head, ramming it into him with enough force to crack open a slab of granite. The blow produced a sickening crunch and a high-pitched shriek from Leng. Blood squinted from both nostrils and his mouth. He tried to draw a breath and choked.

Dakka cocked her fist back again.

_Goddamn._ Chula managed to tear her gaze away for a second to check on the rest of Leng's team. Her combat drone still had them pinned down, zapping each one the instant he started to push himself up. She turned back to Dakka and Leng.

Dakka's fist crashed into the side of Leng's head and the left half of his goggles popped out of his shattered eye socket. His shriek became a muffled, gurgling howl.

Finally, she released his hand and he flopped over, sprawling on his side and continuing to moan and howl and gurgle. Dakka pulled the sword out, almost fell across the counter, and coughed.

Chula rushed over to her and reached out to hold her up. "Oh, Keelah," she whispered.

Dakka regained her balance and examined Leng's sword. "Hmm." She shook her head. "Nah, on second thought, it's too small. You can have it back." She casually drove the blade through Leng's remaining goggle, silencing his already weakening cries, and stepped over the body.

"Are you-?"

"I've had worse, believe it or not." Dakka scowled at the body as she headed for the front door. "That guy was a _dick_."

"According to the file I found after I scanned him, he was one of Cerberus's top operatives."

Dakka raised a brow ridge, stared at her for a few seconds, and snorted. "If you say so."

Chula laughed, picked up her hat and swords, and tapped her Omni-Tool, setting her combat drone to keep the survivors subdued until she and Dakka were far away from here. Then she gave Dakka a quick scan.

"This is bad. You've got a collapsed lung."

Dakka shrugged. "I've got three more." She hopped over the rail and dropped to the ground, rolled, and crouched. She grimaced and held her breath for a moment, then grunted, "Come on. There's plenty more fun to be had back at the hotel."

"Fun. Sure. That's what _I'd_ call it." Chula jumped over the rail and landed beside Dakka. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. Come on, let's not keep 'em waiting." Dakka jogged across the mall floor.

"Right." Chula shook her head again before catching up with her. _Wow. Just ... _wow_._


	15. Chapter 15

Lia ducked back behind the pool table a split-second before another burst of gunfire tore into it. A hail of projectiles from the two dozen enemy weapons chewed through the metal table in mere seconds, and she leaped out of cover and dive-rolled behind a nearby roulette table. She pressed her back to its base and tried to slow her panicked breathing.

The combined forces of the Cerberus personnel and Kelham's thugs shifted their aim and blasted away at her newfound cover. Molten metal splattered the floor and nearby chairs and tables. Lia scooted to the left and popped up beside the roulette wheel, just long enough to overload their shields with her Omni-Tool and squeeze off a few shots from her stolen rifle. Several hostiles ran for cover as their barriers collapsed, and others could no longer fire because their weapons had seized up, but a few stood their ground and kept up their onslaught. Lia dropped out of sight before her shields could absorb more than a few dozen hits.

The roulette wheel exploded and shrapnel rained down on her. She threw her arms over her head, forced herself to breathe evenly, and hoped her shields would recharge fully before the hostiles began advancing on her position.

Quint's voice came through her comlink. "Sit tight, Lia. I'll give 'em something else to shoot at."

She glanced around and found him halfway across the room, stepping out from behind a bank of Quasar machines. He raised his left arm and his Omni-Tool flared up around it. Something resembling a red lightning bolt leaped from its business end, drilled into the nearest of the Cerberus agents, and arced from him to several others. All of them convulsed and their hands clenched on their rifles, spewing a couple hundred rounds into random spots on the far wall and ceiling, before they sprawled unconscious on the floor.

"Thanks, Quint." Lia sighed, pulled herself together, and checked the blips in her HUD. All of the thugs had remained in the positions they'd taken across the room when the fight started-except one.

A single enemy blip had moved up behind her.

_Shit!_ She spun around to find one of Kelham's goons standing a meter away, aiming his Mattock heavy rifle square at her chest. She let out a panicked screech and snapped her gun up.

Both of them opened fire at the same time, whittling away at each other's barriers. The shield power indicator in Lia's HUD dropped with alarming speed thanks to the human's more powerful weapon. Her own gun didn't pack enough of a punch to bring his shields down before it was too late.

It was already too late even to run.

_He's going to kill me! I'm going to-_

Her gun ceased fire, its heat sink spent. Lia screamed.

The man's head exploded into gravel-size chunks and blood fountained from his neck stump.

_What ... the fuck?_ The body hit the floor before Lia realized a thunderous gunshot had accompanied the popping of his head.

"You okay, kiddo?" General Kurakova said over her comlink.

"Y-yeah." Lia turned toward the back of the room and found Kurakova behind the bar in the corner, ejecting a spent heat sink. Her Widow rifle slotted another in automatically and she smiled and nodded before turning to line up another shot. Lia nodded back and took several rapid breaths. "Thank you, General."

"Any time."

Continuing to breathe deeply and trying to steady her shaking hands, Lia dropped her rifle and picked up the dead guy's Mattock. _Hah. Upgrade._ She plucked a few spare thermal clips from her belt and shoved them into the rifle, making sure it had a full load. The trembling in her hands grew worse and she almost dropped one of the clips.

She checked her tactical display again and found no one else sneaking up behind her. A quick look around located Quint and Valeria, the former producing a combat drone from his Omni-Tool and the latter darting from one table to another.

Slipping around the left side of the room while Quint and his drone kept the thugs occupied, Lia realized.

_Got to do my part, then, and make sure they don't notice her._ Lia rolled out from behind what was left of the roulette table, stretched out along the floor with her rifle aimed toward the mixed forces across the room, and squeezed the trigger.

The Mattock discharged with a heavy _thump_ accompanying its muzzle flash, kicking back against her shoulder and rattling her whole torso. Its tiny projectile smashed into a Cerberus man's left shoulder, spun him around, and rolled him across a blackjack table to drop out of sight behind it.

_Whoa._ Lia adjusted her grip and fired a few more shots to keep the rest of them pinned down.

One of them leaned out of cover and pointed his submachine gun at her. She put a double-tap through his forehead and glanced at Valeria.

Val had made her way along the wall and crept up behind the hostiles. She crouched behind an overturned table, lined up a shot ... and hesitated. Her talon quivered on the trigger, as if she were trying to pull it but something in her simply wouldn't let it happen.

She slumped, shook her head, and holstered the rifle on her back. Then she stood and crept up behind the nearest of Kelham's men.

Kurakova slammed another shot from her anti-material rifle into the side of the table the men were hiding behind. It punched through the solid metal base, a guy's chest, and the wall beyond. The force of the impact ripped the table out of the floor and whacked it into the rest of the thugs.

The man in front of Valeria lurched backward just in time to dodge it. Valeria closed the distance between them, tapped him on the shoulder, and waited for him to spin around. When he did, she rammed her fist straight into his nose. His head snapped back and his arms flailed. Valeria snatched the gun from his hand as he fell, ejected all the thermal clips, and tossed it over her shoulder.

The remaining hostiles managed to pick themselves up. Valeria grabbed the next nearest guy, wrenched the pistol away from him, and slammed his head into the table. She popped the clips out as he flopped onto his back and chucked the empty gun at another man. It spun through the air and cracked him in the forehead, and Valeria moved on to the next before he hit the floor.

He swung his SMG toward her, but she swatted it out of his grip with her right hand, landed a roundhouse blow with her left that flipped him over the table, and surged forward to meet another guy head-on. He fumbled and dropped the gun, pulled a knife from his belt, and lashed at her. She snapped to the right and deflected the blade with her left arm. It whistled past her helmet, leaving his side open to attack. A quick jab cracked several of his ribs and sent him to the floor where he curled into a fetal position.

_Keelah._ Lia stared at Valeria and shook her head slowly. _So, that's the porn star I've heard so much about, eh?_

Valeria faced the rest of the survivors. "Is Kelham worth dying for?"

Kelham's men dropped their weapons and raised their hands. The Cerberus guys kept their guns on her. The one on the right lined up a shot and sneered.

Lia shifted her aim to the guy's chest-but the deafening _boom_ of Kurakova's Widow jolted her and the man's neck vaporized. The others gaped at the body as it collapsed and the head bounced across the floor.

One of them hunched forward and vomited.

Kurakova ejected the spent thermal clip and smirked as she aimed at another target. "I'd recommend surrender."

Quint stepped out into the open, aiming his Locust submachine gun with his right hand and his Omni-Tool with his left. Lia stood and covered them from another angle.

Two new blips appeared in her HUD, approaching from behind. She turned toward the stairwell doorway.

At the same time, an impact shook the floor, followed by another, and another. Lia glanced over her shoulder just as an YMIR mech appeared in the doorway Chula and Dakka had charged through a few minutes ago.

_Oh, shit._

Footsteps thumped up the stairs.

The YMIR deployed its cannon and missile launcher.

"Hey, guys," Chula's voice came through Lia's comm, "we're almost there. Did we miss much?"

"A little." Lia sighed and looked around for cover solid enough to stop whatever the giant mech was about to throw at them. "Not over yet, though."

"Good," Dakka said. "I could always use a little more-" She appeared in the doorway and stopped, staring at the YMIR as it selected a target. "Oh. Fantastic."

It locked its weapons onto Valeria.

"Take cover, everyone." Kurakova swung her rifle around to the mech and blew its head off.

Valeria gasped and rushed over to the spot where her husband had tipped his chair over to get out of the line of fire.

The decapitated YMIR fell to its knees and emitted a series of shrill beeps. Beeps which came faster and faster with each passing second.

_That sounds like a self-destruct. Wonderful._

Kelham's people and the Cerberus agents bolted in a blind panic. Valeria didn't even take the time to remove the restraints keeping Irving tied to the chair-she simply dragged him away from the mech, chair and all. Kurakova holstered her rifle and ran over to help her.

The half-dozen LOKI mechs, having recovered from Chula's hack a few minutes ago, marched through the doorway and looked around, searching for targets.

Dakka ran over to Valeria and the others and planted herself between them and the YMIR, shielding them with her body.

The rapid beeping became a solid tone and the mech detonated with an earsplitting _bang_ and a shockwave that knocked Lia off her feet. Shrapnel hissed through the air and ripped into the walls and floor and three of the LOKI units.

Lia picked herself up, staggered, and shook her head.

Dakka stood where she'd parked herself, her shields flaring wherever the shrapnel vaporized against them. She turned, found the three surviving LOKIs, plucked her Claymore shotguns from her hips, and finished them off. She turned back to Valeria and Irving. "You guys okay?"

"I'm good," Val said. "Irv?"

"I'm fine."

She unlocked the restraints and helped him get back on his feet. She took off her helmet and leaned forward to nudge her forehead gently against his.

"I wasn't sure you'd recognize me in this armor," she whispered.

"I knew it was you the instant I saw you." He smiled and put his arms around her.

Quint walked over to Dakka, keeping his gun on the thugs sprawled on the floor. Then he stopped suddenly and pointed at blood trickling from a slit in her armor.

"Is that-oh, shit, were you _stabbed_?"

"Relax, it's only a collapsed lung."

"_What?_"

"Take it easy. I'm okay. I've got three other lungs. Really, I'm fine. I already applied some medi-gel to stop the bleeding. A few hours in the hospital on the Citadel and I'll be as good as new." Dakka leaned down to give his lips a quick lick, then looked around at the Cerberus agents. She walked over to the one with the cracked ribs and clamped her hand onto his shoulder.

"I see you didn't come back with Kelham," Valeria said to Dakka and Chula.

"They split up. The guy in the armor had a hologram projector, made himself look like Kelham." Chula sighed. "We went after him instead of the real one. He could still be here, or he ran off somewhere and we'll never-"

"Oh, I'll find him." Valeria stroked Irving's cheek and kissed him before heading for the door at the back of the room. "I'll be right back, honey. Just wait here with everyone else."

"Sure. Be careful."

Lia hurried to catch up with Valeria. "Guess the others have everyone covered. I'll help you search."

"Thanks." Valeria scanned their surroundings with her Omni-Tool, glanced at its display, and turned toward a door off to the right.

_She can probably do a better job of finding Kelham than I can, but I just need to get away from the carnage for a few minutes._

Valeria opened the door and stepped into a dark hallway. Lia's visor amplified what little light was available and found a corridor that probably led to storage rooms and bathrooms. The floor tiles had been shattered, the walls cracked, several doors blown off by debris impact or a stray shot from one of the ships that had engaged Sovereign two years ago.

Valeria stopped at each door and scanned it thoroughly before moving on to the next. Lia began scanning the doors on the opposite side.

"I'm curious about something," Lia finally said, keeping her tone soft. "During the fight, you were about to shoot those guys, but then you stopped."

Valeria finished scanning the next room and sighed. "It's like I said when we talked on the _Sulaco_. When I was a Spectre before, I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. Things I wish I hadn't done. I don't like the kind of person the job turned me into, and I don't want to start down that path again. Especially now that I have Irving. I don't want him to wake up one morning and find himself in bed with a stranger who just happens to look exactly like the woman he married." She shook her head and sucked in a quick breath before walking to the next door. "As afraid as I am of losing myself, I'm fucking _terrified_ of Irving losing me that way."

"I never thought about it that way before, but it makes sense." Lia almost shuddered at the memory of the man whose brains she blew out a few minutes ago, as well as the panic that had overwhelmed her when she and that other guy were blasting each other at point blank range. How desperate she was to kill him to save her own life.

Witnessing Chula and Dakka taking lives without appearing to give it a second thought.

"Some people can handle it," Valeria said. "My Nana probably killed more people during the First Contact War than I ever did as a Spectre, but she's still who she always was. Me? I don't know. I'm afraid some places are too dark for me to venture into again."

Not knowing what to say, Lia remained silent for a moment and scanned the next room.

A blip appeared in her HUD and text identifying it appeared beside it. Lia touched Valeria's shoulder. When Val turned to look at her, she pointed at the door. Val nodded and eased it open. Her Omni-Tool projected a beam of light into the room and Lia's visor automatically lowered its light-amp level.

A soft gasp came from one of the stalls on the right.

_Restroom. Somehow, that seems quite appropriate._ Lia followed Valeria inside and pointed at the stall on the far end.

Valeria pushed on the door and the man inside shrieked. Val snapped the lock with a kick and rushed into the stall. The man squealed again as she dragged him out.

"Elias Kelham," Valeria growled, and he cringed. She clamped her left arm around his neck and dragged him back the way she and Lia had come. "I've _really_ been looking forward to meeting you. We're gonna have a nice, long talk."

#

"We have received an update from Spectre Operative Terakkis," the geth unit said, breaking the silence in the lab.

Tarsus Parim nearly jumped out of his armor at the sound of the synthetic's voice. He'd dealt with mechs, VIs, and synthetics more times than he could count, but he'd been on edge ever since he learned that this one was a genuine geth mobile platform. That in itself was bad enough, but a whole fleet of those things attacked the Citadel two years ago-having it and its cohort roaming around freely was one hell of a security risk.

And the fact that this one had apparently been designed to mimic the general figure of female quarians and was wearing a fucking femme-Santa costume only made it all the more unsettling.

Tarsus gave himself another moment to calm down before turning to address the geth. "What's the update?"

"Elias Kelham and his associates have been apprehended. He appears to be working with a Cerberus team."

_Cerberus? They're operating on the _Citadel_? Now that's ballsy._

"A top-level Cerberus agent named Kai Leng was terminated by Dakka," the unit continued. "Spectre Operative Terakkis reports more casualties among Elias Kelham's forces, but there are many survivors to transport out of Tayseri Ward."

"Coordinates?"

The geth activated its Omni-Tool and projected a map with a blip pinpointing Valeria's location. Tarsus passed the coordinates on to Captain Bailey.

"A C-Sec transport will pick them up."

"Acknowledged."

"What about General Kurakova and the team? Are they alright?"

"Dakka was wounded during the fight with Kai Leng, but the others are unharmed."

Tarsus sighed. "Good. I was really worried about the general. She's getting up there in years. Guess she's still got it, though."

"Spectre Operative Terakkis said the general was in top form during combat."

"Good." Tarsus allowed himself to relax slightly and even managed a brief chuckle. "I guess I should've known she could take care of herself."

"Ah-hah," one of the research team said, and Tarsus turned quickly toward the group of asari, salarians, and humans on the far side of the lab. He walked over to them. The asari in charge of the team, Raena T'Lura, glanced over her shoulder at him.

"Making progress, Doctor?" He stopped beside her and looked at the monitor everyone had been watching.

"We've identified a few of the artifacts as Prothean. The rest, however, we're ... well, we're just not sure." She turned to stare at the big, reinforced window between the lab and the isolation chamber, where the artifacts were being kept to prevent them from affecting anyone adversely. "Our preliminary analysis indicates some of them originated farther back than the extinction of the Protheans fifty thousand years ago. We're talking several hundred thousand years for some, _millions_ of years for others."

Tarsus stared into the isolab as three LOKI mechs probed the artifacts with an array of scanners. "Amazing that they remained intact for so long." His mandibles twitched.

"And then there's this." Dr. T'Lura turned back to the console she and the others had gathered around. She pointed at the screen. "This video record shows a whole fleet of ships resembling the one that led the geth attack on the Citadel two years ago."

"Huh. I figured that was a prototype geth warship."

"A lot of people assumed that, including the Council. It seems they were wrong."

One of the other scientists, a salarian named Solak Renus, pointed at the image on the monitor. "Recognize that planet?"

Tarsus leaned forward for a closer look. "Hmm. Some of the features look familiar, but I can't quite place it." His gaze shifted from the planet to the squid-shaped ships obliterating the opposing fleet, and he shivered.

"Think of what it would look like with an enormous ravine carved across the southern hemisphere."

Tarsus drew in a quick breath and his jaw dropped. "That's Klendagon?"

"Yes, before the formation of the Great Rift Valley." Dr. Renus rubbed his hands together and his eyelids flicked upward over his enormous, black eyes several times. "We're about to see how it happened."

"The Great Rift's age is estimated at around thirty-seven million years." Tarsus turned to look at the geth unit, which had followed him over to the science team.

"The quarians created the geth only three hundred years ago," T'Lura said. "The geth couldn't have built Sovereign-or any of these other ships we're looking at, here. Y'know, seeing as they didn't even exist yet."

"Maybe they copied the design for-"

"Sorry, but no." Dr. T'Lura shook her head. "We found so few pieces of Sovereign after it blew, there was no way to know it was beyond the geth's technology. However, just recently, researchers were able to determine the age of a few pieces of debris. I don't remember the exact number off the top of my head, but it was followed by the word, _million_."

"Well, I'll be damned."

Dr. T'Lura turned back to the geth. "Looks like this lets your species off the hook. Seems everyone who blamed you for Sovereign owes you an apology."

"They acted on the information they had at the time. They had no knowledge of the Old Machines, and they did not know the geth who followed Sovereign were a rogue faction."

"Still, it's unfortunate that the politicians in charge of the Citadel were so quick to write it off as a geth dreadnaught. If what I've heard about the Reapers is true, and they really are coming back, we'd have a chance of being ready for them if we hadn't screwed around for the past two years."

"Here it comes," Dr. Renus said, pointing at the screen and grinning.

Everyone stared at the image. On the screen, something flashed across space, leaving a trail of massive explosions in its wake-and each of those explosions was one of the gigantic, squid-like Reapers.

The projectile punched through them as if they were made of tinfoil and struck a glancing blow across Klendagon's surface, gouging a kilometers-long groove in the rocky terrain and launching enough dirt and debris into the air to obscure most of it. The few parts still visible were molten rock.

"_Shit_," Tarsus whispered. He looked back at the fading explosions and expanding clouds of debris. "Eight. That thing ripped apart _eight_ of them."

"And kept on going." T'Lura rubbed a finger over her bottom lip. "The projectile was fired from a mass accelerator weapon-possibly the biggest one in the history of the entire galaxy. If we really are going to find ourselves up against the Reapers at some point, we really should find that weapon and figure out how to build more."

"Yeah." Tarsus stared at the video and shook his head slowly. "Just ... holy _shit_."

#

Lia walked over to Sidonis while Dakka stood in line at the admissions counter. Quint rushed up to the counter, but Dakka grabbed his belt before he could open his mouth.

"Take it easy. There's only one guy ahead of us."

Quint gaped at her. "You've got a collapsed lung and you're _waiting in line_?"

"It's nothing I can't handle." Dakka turned to watch Lia and Sidonis.

Quint shook his head and slapped both hands to his face.

"Have you heard anything about Kenn yet?" Lia glanced over at the doors leading to the operating rooms.

"He's out of surgery." Sidonis heaved himself off the lounge chair and nodded at one of the side doors. "They moved him into a standard-care room just a few minutes ago. They said he'll be okay."

Lia sighed. "That's a huge relief. Things like that can get a little dicey for quarians. The immune-system thing, and all."

"How can I help you?" a human woman asked, and Dakka turned to face her.

"Ah, yeah, I've got a little something I need checked out." She pointed at the hole in her armor. "Dude skewered me with a sword. Punctured my lower-left lung and collapsed it. Figured I'd have someone take a look at it while my friends and I are here."

The color drained from the woman's face and she began tapping buttons frantically. "Dear God," she muttered.

"Ha! If you think that's bad, you should see the guy who did it. His skull looks like a condom stuffed with walnut shells."

"Uh ... okay." The woman pointed at a spot on the far end of the room. "If you'll just head over there, a doctor will come out for you in just a moment."

"Thanks." Dakka strode across the floor. When she passed Lia and Sidonis, a soft sobbing made her stop abruptly. She turned as Lia sank onto the lounge chair, leaned forward and raised her hands to her helmet. Dakka walked over to her and said, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"It's just now hitting me." Lia took a deep breath that turned into another sob. "There was a moment ... in the firefight ... when one of Kelham's men almost ... almost killed me. He would have, too, if General Kurakova hadn't blown his head off with her sniper rifle." She tried to continue, but could only shake her head and burst into tears.

Sidonis reached out, hesitated, lowered his hand and just looked on uncomfortably.

"Hey." Dakka lowered herself carefully onto the chair and put her arm around Lia. "Feel up to telling me what happened?"

"Uh, Dakka ... " Quint waved a hand at the surgery room door.

"Yeah, hold on, babe." Dakka held a hand up. "Lia, I don't mean to pry, but if talking about it would help ... ."

"He was right in front of me. Almost as close as you are now. We were just blasting away at each other at point-blank range. My heat sink depleted, but his didn't. I panicked. Froze. He kept wearing my shields down." Lia sobbed again. "If the general hadn't shot him, he would've blown my suit _and_ my chest wide open. Even if I didn't die immediately, I would've bled out or an infection would've finished me off."

Dakka put her other arm around Lia and rubbed her back. "It's over now. You survived."

"I've just never been that close before. Even when I came aboard the _Sulaco_, I was terribly sick but there was a chance I'd pull through. But _this_-I'd never had someone standing right in front of me, determined to kill me."

A man's voice came from the left: "I'm told someone here needs immediate medical attention."

"It's her." Quint pointed at Dakka.

"Okay, if you'll just follow me, please?"

"Can you give us a minute?" Dakka glanced at the doctor and waved a hand at Lia. "We're right in the middle of something."

"Ma'am, you've got a _collapsed lung_."

"Believe me, I'm aware of it. Give us a minute, okay?" She turned back to Lia, raised her hands to the girl's shoulders, and rubbed gently. "Don't worry, you'll get used to stuff like this."

Lia snorted. "That's a real fucking comfort."

Dakka snickered. Lia shook her head and burst out laughing. Dakka laughed with her and patted her back.

"There. Better?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Lia chuckled. "Sorry about this. I acted like a scared little kid."

"Don't worry about it. I've had my share of close calls, so I know where you're coming from." Dakka stood and patted Lia's shoulder. "When we're done with all this stuff, let's see if we can get you laid. That'll take your mind off what happened."

"Uh, well, I don't know, um-"

"Without taking your suit off, of course. Just make sure your neuro-stim software is up to date. If nothing else, I think you've earned a nice, relaxing massage, at least." Dakka grinned and pointed at the doctor. "Guess I should go have this guy plug my hole."

"That's _my_ job," Quint said with slight smirk, and Dakka laughed.

"The one running through my lung, ya doof." She leaned over to lick his cheek. "See you soon."

"I'll wait right here."

She turned to follow the doctor. In the corner of her eye, Sidonis leaned over to Quint and muttered, "Uh, you and a krogan?"

"Hell, yeah." Quint grinned.

"How the hell are you still _alive_?"

Quint gazed at Dakka and smiled. "Just lucky, I guess."

Dakka paused long enough to grin at him. "Me, too."

#

"I'm curious about something." Valeria leaned on Captain Bailey's desk and stared into his eyes. Her quiet yet menacing tone made Chula shiver. She glanced around at the four other C-Sec personnel in the front office and hoped things weren't about to go off the rails.

General Kurakova stepped up beside Valeria, crossed her arms over her chest, and arched an eyebrow at Bailey. Irving leaned on a vacant desk nearby and cleaned dried blood off his face with an antiseptic cloth from one of C-Sec's medical kits.

"First we find out that Kelham's been bribing you," Valeria continued, "then we find out he's been working with Cerberus. If you know anything about that, now's the time to come clean." She kept her voice soft, but there was no mistaking the razor's edge just under the surface.

Bailey slumped forward, rubbed a hand over his face, and grumbled, "Aw, _shit_."

"Potentially _very_ deep." Valeria kept her eyes aimed into his.

He sighed and nodded at the door to Chula's right. "We can talk freely in there."

"The interrogation room," Valeria said.

"I thought it'd be appropriate. And we'll have privacy in there." Bailey opened the door and stepped through. Chula, being the closest, followed him, glancing to either side the instant she entered the room to be sure no one was waiting there to attack her. Finding no one else in the room, she moved aside to let the others in.

Bailey sat in the chair in the center of the room. The chair normally occupied by suspects being questioned, Chula noted.

Kurakova closed the door, crossed her arms again, and leaned against the wall. Chula stood beside her, as did Irving.

"Okay." Valeria walked slowly around Bailey like a predator circling its next meal. "Ready to answer my question?"

"I don't know all of what's going on." Bailey rubbed his forehead and grimaced, as if a headache were growing right behind his eyes. "At first, Kelham bribed me to keep my team away from him. As long as he kept out of anything too severe, I figured there were bigger problems to deal with. It kept the peace."

"And kept a steady flow of extra credits into your account," Chula said.

"Yeah. That, too." Bailey looked up and met Valeria's gaze as she continued circling. "Someone in Cerberus started using Kelham a few months ago, then gradually took over his operation. I don't know what they want, but if I had to guess, I'd say they're worming their way into the Citadel underworld and are planning to branch out from there. Maybe they're just doing it for a new revenue stream or to recruit new members, or maybe they're getting ready to attempt a takeover-bribe or blackmail the right politicians and they could eventually take over and no one would even know."

"They've certainly gotten their hooks into Citadel Security." Valeria continued circling without taking her eyes off him.

"The rest of my team knew about the bribes, but they _don't_ know what else is preventing me from saying, 'Fuck it,' and hitting Kelham and Cerberus with everything I have." He took a deep breath and let it out quickly. "They have my son."

_Oh, wonderful._ Chula shook her head. _That explains a few things._

"Shit." Valeria finally stopped pacing and put a hand on Bailey's shoulder. "I'm sorry. They tried the same thing with my husband."

Kurakova took a few steps forward. "I don't suppose you know where your son is being held?"

Bailey shook his head. "No idea. And if they find out I talked to you, they'll-"

Valeria nodded.

"They'll really do it, too. The guy in charge of the whole operation, Kai Leng, is a real whack-job."

"Not anymore," Chula said. "Dakka took him out."

"Seriously?" Bailey stared slack-jawed at her. "Just like that?"

"Well, first she slapped him around for a few minutes, then he stabbed her with his sword. All that did was piss her off. She punched him twice and it was all over. Now his head looks like a tank ran over it."

Bailey chuckled. "Well, that's the thing with the krogan. If you don't get 'em in both hearts right off the bat, you're fucked." He shook his head. "Wherever my son is, they'll find out what happened here sooner or later."

"We'll question the people we arrested, then." Valeria turned to the door. "If they know where he is, I'll get it out of 'em."

Bailey nodded and stood. "When you get the location, I'm going with you."

She turned back to him, but he shook his head and spoke before she could say anything.

"I completely screwed up raising him. There's no way in hell I'm gonna let those bastards kill him, and no way I'm gonna just sit here on my ass while someone else rescues him. I'm going, and that's _final_."

Valeria nodded and turned to Chula. "Once I have the location, we could use a lift, if you're interested in an additional gig."

"I am. I'll run it by Weyland and Yutani, but I don't think they'll object."

"Much appreciated." Valeria glanced over her shoulder at Bailey. "I'll start questioning the prisoners immediately. Once I'm done, I'll need to collect some equipment and supplies from the Spectre Requisitions office, then I'll meet you and the others in the docking bay."

He nodded. "I'll be ready."

"So will we." Chula opened the door and strode into the C-Sec office. She activated her Omni-Tool and signaled the two geth units.

"Standing by," Weyland said.

"What is up?" Yutani asked at the same time.

_Wow. Starting to pick up human phrases. How adorable._ She grinned and said, "Looks like we've picked up a search-and-rescue job."


	16. Chapter 16

"Lock the door," Valeria said over her shoulder as she stepped into the interrogation room.

Elias Kelham, secured in the chair in the center of the room, stared wide-eyed at her, then glanced at the door when it closed. The holographic panel floating in front of the door turned from green to red, and his eyes opened even wider.

Valeria compared this reaction to the vids of his prior interrogations and almost laughed.

_Hah. Acts tough when he's got his own private army surrounding him, or when he knows C-Sec won't hold him for more than an hour or two. But take away his support and lock him in a small room with someone who _isn't_ with C-Sec, and his true nature surfaces._

Valeria strode over to him and began circling him, just as she had circled Bailey a few minutes ago. She held up her Spectre ID and kept her voice quiet, yet just strained enough to show him how tightly she was keeping her rage in check.

"Valeria Terakkis, Special Tactics and Reconnaissance." She stopped and leaned over him, opening her mouth enough to give him a good look at her sharp, pointed teeth. "The woman you're trying to have assassinated is my husband's grandmother. She's part of my family, and I consider any attack on her an attack on _me_. Clear?"

His face turned almost white and cold sweat beaded up on his forehead. "Y-y-y-you want me to cancel the contract?"

"Not necessary." Valeria resumed her orbit around him. "I've already put the word out-any assassin or merc who so much as glances in Natalie Kurakova's general direction will end up strapped to a table in a vivisectionist's lab, and I will attend to each and every one of them _personally_." She stopped again, and stared straight into his eyes. "And I will make sure it takes every one of them a good, goddamned long time to die."

He shivered, and even more color drained from his face.

"Also, about the human your people tried to hold hostage to get me and my associates to back off." Valeria braced her left hand on the arm of his chair, and her right on its headrest, and leaned in until her face was mere centimeters from his. "That's _my husband_. I'm sure I don't have to spell out how I feel about this."

His trembling worsened and he tried to scoot away from her.

"You're on my last nerve, Mr. Kelham, so I suggest you answer my questions. Clear?"

"Yes," he half-whispered, half-squeaked.

"Good." She stepped back and paced slowly around him again. "For the moment, I won't get into why Cerberus has been working with your little operation, as there is a far more important matter to deal with. However, once that's resolved, I'll be back to question you again."

He turned his head slowly, keeping his wide eyes on her until she passed behind him, then he shuddered and pressed his lips together.

"Cerberus has been holding Captain Bailey's son hostage to ensure his cooperation. I need to know where."

He continued trembling until she stepped into his line of sight again. Suddenly, he glared at her, trying to pull himself together and reassert some measure of control.

"Hey, I-I have rights! You can't do this to me! I'm not saying anything until I speak to my attorney."

"A C-Sec officer can't do this to you. A Systems Alliance security agent can't do this to you. An officer of the Turian Hierarchy can't do this to you." She stopped and faced him again. "A Spectre _can_."

His scowl faltered for a second, but he recovered and sneered at her. "I want my attorney in here. _Now_."

_Okay, time for a different approach._ "Your high-powered attorney got you off the hook after you hired a hitman to assassinate Joram Talid during his campaign for Intendant of Zakera Ward. He might be able to get you off the hook for your attempt to have my grandmother-in-law killed. And he might be able to get the latest charges dropped." She stepped closer to him. "For Jorax Lanius. Do you even know who that is?"

He shook his head.

"He's the turian you ran down with your car. I saw the surveillance video. I read the eyewitness statements. I read the medical report. You plowed your car into him at full speed. The impact cracked his carapace open and sent him flying into a wall. You parked and walked away as if nothing happened." Valeria leaned over him again. "His internal injuries were massive. The surgeons did everything they could, but I was notified a few minutes ago that he didn't make it. Now, as I said, your attorney _might_ be able to pull your ass out of the fire again, but that won't make any difference."

"What are you talking about? If you think you can threaten me-"

"I don't need to." She stepped back and shook her head. "I checked Jorax out once I found out what was going on here. He was a good man. A kind man. He never did anything illegal in his entire life. His wife, however, is a former asari commando named Arana Nelvos; she's said numerous times that Jorax is one of the few bright spots in her life, and he's been gradually turning her into a better person. Have you ever heard of her?"

"No." He rolled his eyes. "What the hell does that have to do with-?"

"As I said, she's a former commando. She's currently a high-ranking officer in the Eclipse mercenary corporation. She has an entire division under her command. If she doesn't already know you took away one of the precious few good things in her life, she'll find out soon. I wouldn't be surprised if she breaks all of her current contracts and sets her entire division upon you."

Kelham's defiant expression crumpled. He trembled, his lower lip quivered, and his breathing turned ragged.

_Ah-hah. I've got his attention now._ "I've never met Arana Nelvos, but I know her type. I can guess what she'll do. She'll kill you and everyone in your organization, as well as every Cerberus operative who gets between her and you. If you have any family or close friends, I wouldn't be surprised if she kills them first and makes you watch. Hell, if you have any _pets_, she'll probably do them, too."

After gaping at her for a solid ten seconds, he made one last attempt at regaining control. "You're making that up! You're just trying to intimidate me!"

Valeria unlocked his shackles. "You've got an Omni-Tool; look her up."

He stared at her for a few more seconds before he activated his Omni-Tool and entered Nelvos's name. A dossier appeared, including an image of a grim asari in yellow Eclipse armor with a dozen scars crisscrossing her face. Kelham read the dossier and slowly raised a trembling hand to cover his mouth. He tapped a link in the file and another dossier appeared-Jorax Lanius. He read it and returned to the file on Nelvos.

Valeria leaned over for a quick glance at the display, which currently showed Arana's Eclipse history-mostly hired-gun stuff that included unnecessarily brutal actions against her clients' enemies. However, there was a noticeable shift after she married Jorax. Her division began accepting jobs from legitimate businesses and individuals, protecting the innocent and defenseless from pirates and slavers and criminal organizations larger than the one Kelham ran-and, more often than not, utterly trounced them.

_And now there's a good chance she'll turn back into the person she was before Jorax brightened her life._ Valeria stepped back and shook her head slowly.

Kelham finished reading, switched his Tool off, and slumped back in the chair. A long silence stretched out before he finally spoke, and when he did, his voice was a soft mumble, as if speaking to loudly could bring Arana's whole division down upon him.

"Shit. Oh ... oh, _no_." He ran his suddenly violently shaking hands through his hair and glanced around frantically, as if trying to find somewhere to run. But there was nowhere. "Oh ... fuck me."

_Time to tighten the screws._ Valeria walked in front of him and turned to meet his gaze again.

"You've got two options. You can tell me everything I need to know, and I can make sure whatever family and friends you have are placed in a protection program-or I can hand you over to Arana Nelvos personally."

Kelham gaped at her and struggled to resume breathing.

"Well?" She stepped closer. "What'll it be?"

#

"He's on Chasca," Valeria said as she strode through the door into the C-Sec office. "In the Matano system. Cerberus set up a small base there just a few months ago, but at the moment it's only being used for zero-risk research projects. I guess they wanted at least one base that wouldn't attract anyone's attention, like their many failed 'mad-scientist' projects did."

_Sounds like she got him to spill everything already._ Chula wondered if she wanted to know how, and quickly decided she was better off in the dark. "The captains have okayed the mission. Weyland is heading back to the _Sulaco_ now. Yutani will stay here to assist our other client."

Valeria nodded and turned to Bailey. "Kai Leng thought Chasca would be a nice, quiet place to keep your son tucked away until he no longer needed your help."

"I don't need three guesses to figure out what he would've done once that time came." Bailey rose from his desk and glanced over his shoulder at one of his lieutenants. "Hold down the fort while I'm away."

"Yes, sir." The turian shook Bailey's hand. "Good luck."

"Thanks." Bailey turned back to Valeria. "We'll have to hurry."

"Grab whatever gear you think you'll need and meet us at the airlock. I'll brief everyone once we're under way." Valeria chuckled. "Oh, you might want to put Kelham in the most secure cell you've got, to reassure him that we're not going to throw him to the wolves as soon as we're done with him. And begin setting up witness-relocation for his family. He's terrified that Jorax Lanius's wife will come after him or his wife and kids with everything she's got."

"Already arranged. I read Lanius's dossier when we got the incident report, and then I checked into his wife, so I have a good idea what she's capable of. I _should_ let her know what happened, but I'd really prefer not to have her whole goddamn army knocking on C-Sec's door."

"Well," his lieutenant said, "the death report hasn't been entered into our system yet. The only reason we know he died is because a Spectre informed us. And if Nelvos eventually comes barging in here, we can claim there was a brainfart in the system or a clerical error. With luck, this'll all be over and Kelham will be someone else's problem by then."

"Good man." Bailey grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you all as soon as possible."

His officers said their goodbyes and he walked out the door.

"I'm heading for the Requisitions office," Valeria said as her husband walked over and put his hands on her hips. "Wanna come with me, or ... ?"

"Think I'll head back to the _Sulaco_, actually." Irving chuckled and pointed at the dried blood under his nose and the bruises forming on his face. "I'd like to clean myself up a little more thoroughly."

"Okay. See you there." She gave him a quick kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiled and walked through the door leading to the nearby docking bay.

Valeria watched him until the door began to close. She waved and turned to Chula and General Kurakova. "Well, Nana ... "

Kurakova laughed softly. "I'd like to come along to Chasca, if you wouldn't mind the company."

"Irv and I would be delighted! It'll give us a chance to catch up. That is, if it's okay with the _Sulaco_ crew?"

"It's not a problem." Chula nodded. "As I said before, there's more than enough room."

"Thank you." Valeria put her arms around her grandmother-in-law. "I'll see you on the ship when I get back."

"See you then." Kurakova smiled and passed through the same door Irving had used.

Valeria took a step in the opposite direction, then paused. She looked at Chula and cocked her head. "Hey, want to come with me to the Requisitions office?"

_Whoa. I'm being invited into Spectre Central?_ Chula grinned. "Sure, if that's okay."

"It is. Since they reinstated me, it's my call." Valeria chuckled and began walking, and Chula stuck her hands into her pockets and had to fight the urge to skip alongside her.

_This ought to be interesting._

#

In the corner of Lia's eye, Sidonis looked up abruptly. She turned to follow his stare and found Yutani walking toward them, still wearing that ridiculous costume. It made Lia chuckle despite the emotional breakdown she'd suffered after the battle with Kelham's associates.

"How are you feeling?" The geth platform crouched in front of her, and Lia wondered if it had done so to put her at ease.

Lia shrugged. "I'm okay, I guess. I was a little iffy for a while, but I'm pulling myself back together."

"We were informed of your traumatic experience. We agree with Dakka's suggestion."

Lia couldn't help laughing. "You think I should get laid, too?"

"Whatever form your recreational activities take is up to you. We merely think you should give yourself some time to adjust to your new circumstances. You have faced many changes in a short period."

"If I did, I'd feel like I'm letting you down. Besides, if I don't get right back into action, I'm afraid I'll freeze again at a critical moment. I'll always be too terrified to deal with the jobs we get hired to do."

"Immediately entering another combat situation may not be conducive to your mental health. Perhaps you will agree to take the rest of today off?"

"Why? _Is_ there another one coming up right away?"

"Spectre Operative Terakkis has hired us to transport her to a destination that cannot be discussed in public, and provide support once the _Sulaco_ arrives. It is an urgent matter and must not be delayed. The _Sulaco_ will depart once Spectre Operative Terakkis has acquired the equipment she needs. Weyland, Chula, Magnum, Quentin, and General Kurakova will accompany her on the mission." Yutani pointed at itself. "We will remain here to help guard our client, his husband, and the artifacts they discovered."

"I see." _More shooting and being shot at. Maybe Yutani's right; maybe diving back into another firefight would be a bad idea. If I freeze again, I could get one of the others killed._ "How are Dakka and Kenn doing?"

"Kenn is still unconscious, but recovering. Dakka is in surgery now, but it is not expected to take long. Our client's husband has undergone brain scans and psychological evaluations, and nothing unusual has been found. They wish to consult with the chief medical officer on the SSV _Normandy_, as she has had more experience in such matters than anyone else that we are aware of. We have also informed Shepard-Commander and the geth platform stationed on the _Normandy_ of their discovery, as it could benefit their mission."

"Really? Wow. I wonder what they found on Bekenstein."

"We will brief you fully after your period of 'R and R' has concluded and the _Sulaco_ returns from its current mission. Some organics may find some of the information ... unsettling." Yutani looked away and spoke in a softer, somewhat confused tone. "We did."

Lia stared at it. Her. Them. Whatever. "Something about those artifacts disturbed you?"

"We are not certain of the proper terminology. We do not experience emotions, and do not fully comprehend them. But some of the events in the vid records we saw ... concern us. If that is the proper word." Yutani activated her Omni-Tool and poked at it. "We will brief the crew all at once. For now, there is something we thought you would like to see."

Lia's Omni-Tool beeped and appeared around her left arm. She touched a control and a small window appeared above her wrist, indicating she had an incoming file transfer request. With some trepidation, she accepted it, and waited for it to load.

"When we arrived at the Citadel," Yutani said, "Weyland requested a video record be sent from Rannoch. As you will see from the date stamp, it was recorded two weeks ago."

"Rannoch?" Lia almost held her breath as the transfer finished and she played the file. She held her hand palm-up and the video appeared in a holofield above it-a desert landscape of rocks carved into fascinating shapes by millions of years of wind erosion, with a few gleaming buildings in the foreground and many more in the background.

"Wow," Sidonis muttered. "That's your homeworld? I mean, I've seen photos of Rannoch taken before the quarians evacuated centuries ago. But no one has seen anything this recent."

"Yeah. That's home." Lia stared at the image as a gentle breeze blew sand through the foreground. Tears trickled from her eyes and she sobbed. "No quarian has been there in three hundred years."

"We apologize." Yutani reached up to place a hand on Lia's shoulder. "We did not intend to upset you."

"No, you didn't upset me. At all." Without thinking, Lia reached up to pat the machine's hand. "I'm happy. I never even imagined I'd ever see Rannoch as it looks now." She glanced at Sidonis and nodded at the vid. "This is the closest any quarian has been to our homeworld in three centuries. And I'm the one who got to see it first!" She sniffed and turned back to Yutani. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. We are gratified to know this has cheered you up."

"It has, it really has!" She continued staring at the projection, grinning and weeping at the same time. "The ... the buildings look intact. The fighting had to be brutal to drive us from our own planet, so I expected everything to be in ruin."

"We have been rebuilding and maintaining Rannoch, preparing it for our Creators' return. Geth do not require food or an atmosphere, so we do not live on Rannoch. We remain there to restore the planet to what it once was. We are still rebuilding, but repairs on many structures have been completed." Yutani put her hand on Lia's shoulder again. "We learned recently that the quarian Admiralty Board has been attempting to gain approval to take Rannoch by force. They do not need to. Your people are welcome to return whenever they wish, provided they do not attack us. We can never undo the harm we caused during the Morning War, but we are willing to coexist peacefully if it is also desirable for the quarians."

"I ... I hope we can." She'd heard the rumors about the Admiralty wanting to start a war, and found them horrifying. She wanted her homeworld back as much as any other quarian, but throwing the Migrant Fleet at an enemy like the geth would only result in her people's extinction.

_Wait. That stealth ship we discovered a few days ago-I wonder if that has anything to do with it. If it was authorized by the Admiralty ... oh, hell._

And still, Weyland and Yutani had refrained from sending the information to the geth.

_They're really holding themselves back. They must _really_ want peace._

Before she could give it any more thought, her Omni-Tool signaled an incoming comm transmission. Dakka's name and avatar appeared in her HUD. She accepted the call and said, "Hi. You're out of surgery already?"

"Nah. They've got me on some sedatives, but either it hasn't completely kicked in yet or it's just not enough. I started to drift off, then I woke up in the middle of the operation. They upped the dosage, so I figured I should take care of this while I'm still conscious."

"Wait-you're talking to me _during_ the operation?"

"Yep." Dakka grunted. "It's a little uncomfortable, definitely. I'm sure it'll get _real_ interesting if I'm still awake when they reinflate my lung. Anyway, remember our conversation just before I went in for surgery?"

"Yes." _Oh, she didn't ..._

"Good. You've got an appointment in about ten minutes."

_Oh, she _did_. Keelah._ "What did you do, rent a hooker for me?"

"Only if you want him to be. If all you want is a massage, he'll do it. If you want to cuddle for a while, that's what he'll do. Or if you just want to watch a vid or sit and talk for the rest of the day, he can do that, too. He's a lot like the asari Consort, only not _nearly_ as expensive and he's not booked up for the next year."

"Uh, well, I don't know-"

"His fee's already paid, so don't worry about it. Just enjoy your time with him, however you end up using it." Dakka grunted again, but managed to laugh at the same time. "I wanna hear all about it, too!"

_Oh, Keelah!_ Lia shook her head and chuckled.

"The surgeons are about to start on my lung, so I gotta sign off."

"Okay. I'll talk to you later. And thanks."

"No problemo." Dakka's avatar waved and vanished.

Lia shook her head again and laughed. "Huh. Best Pilgrimage _ever_."

#

"Have you ever considered becoming a Spectre?" Valeria asked as she stepped up to the console in the Requisitions office.

_What?_ Chula stared at her.

"I'm serious." Valeria took a slow look around the office and sighed. "One of the reasons I never completely 'clicked' with the Spectres is because their primary job is to preserve the galactic status quo by any means necessary. Everyone thinks they're agents of justice, but that's not entirely true. I was always more concerned with doing what's _right_, so I never really fit in. Granted, I haven't known you long, but I just have a feeling about you. You strike me as the kind of person who does what's right rather than caring about keeping things the way they've always been."

Chula continued staring at her. "I ... well, yeah, I try, at least." She shrugged. "The Spectre thing never even occurred to me. And even if it had, I just don't see the Council inducting a quarian. We're not even one of the Citadel species. All we had was an embassy here, and that was taken away because we created AI. We didn't intend to, but it's still illegal. And the Council kicked us off the Citadel _after_ the geth drove us from our own homeworld. After everything that's happened since then, I doubt we'll ever be allowed to have a presence on the Citadel again."

"According to the Council's own rules, Spectres can be chosen from _any_ species." Valeria continued her perusal of weapons and armor options. "The quarians who created the geth and then tried to pull the plug in a blind panic are long dead. I'm aware of how your people are being treated-crap like the Council refusing to let you settle on another planet, even one that no one else wants. It's disgusting. You're being punished for something that happened centuries before you were born. It's utter _bullshit_."

"Thank you. I'm glad to know there's at least one person out there who understands." Chula sighed.

Valeria nodded and added several more items to her cart. "Like I said, it's just a feeling I have about you. If I'm right, and you eventually join the Spectres, you could do a lot to show the Council that your people are worth bringing back into the galactic community. And I think you could do a lot to change the Spectres for the better, from the inside."

"Really?" Chula said softly.

"Yeah. While there's a lot to be said about maintaining galactic stability, in some cases that means doing things I don't think are right, just for the sake of keeping things the way they are. As an example, the status quo includes keeping the quarians trapped on a wandering fleet of centuries-old ships that are held together with spot welds, plumbing adhesives, and hope."

"Well, that's ... disheartening."

"Very." Valeria slid a claw across the screen, flicking from one page of equipment to another. "Also, while there are rigorous background checks and psych evaluations before anyone is even considered for the job, and many of the Spectres I worked with before are genuinely good, honorable people who go out of their way to fight injustice, there are what humans would call 'bad apples.'"

She jabbed a button and placed her order, then opened a new page.

"Like the piece of _shit_ I mentioned on the way to the Citadel, Saren Arterius. It was years later when this came to light, but he was evaluating a potential human Spectre candidate, David Anderson, who's now the human Councilor. Saren lied on the report to make Anderson look responsible for all the casualties that resulted from Saren's own actions. Then, two years ago, Saren ended up leading the rogue geth in Sovereign's attack on the Citadel. The son of a bitch tried to open the floodgates for a machine race that would've wiped out all life in the galaxy."

She sighed and turned to look at Chula.

"As much as I didn't want to rejoin the Spectres permanently, I started thinking that maybe I can make a difference from within. If more people like me and Commander Shepard-and, someday, _you_-are let into the Spectres, we could change things for the better."

_Holy shit._ "I ... you really think I'm worthy?"

"I think there's a good chance you might be. I'd like to keep working together, if that's okay with you. It'd give us a chance to get to know each other better, and give me a chance to find out whether I'm right." She clapped Chula gently on the shoulder. "It'd also be an opportunity for you to learn more about the Spectres and how I, specifically, do the job."

_I can't believe this is happening!_ Chula took a few deep breaths. "I'd like that."

"Glad to hear it. It'll take a long time for me to gain enough clout to even suggest this to the Council, but if you keep doing what you've been doing, I think you'll impress them enough to give it serious consideration when I bring it up to them."

"I'll do my best." Chula grinned and hoped her heart wasn't pounding hard enough to make her shake visibly.

Valeria nodded, clapped Chula's shoulder again, and pointed at the items on the screen. "As part of the payment for giving us a lift and helping me on the mission, I'm ordering a large shipment of dextro-based food and medical supplies for you, Lia, Kenn, and Sidonis. Also, levo-based food and meds for your human and krogan crewmates. It'll take a while to get it all together, but it should be ready and waiting when we return from the mission."

"That's wonderful! We're frighteningly low on dextro supplies, thanks to a recent shipment that ... couldn't be delivered." Chula trailed off, pondered the matter for a few seconds, and said, "Now that I think about it, if I were a Spectre, there's one thing I'd be interested in looking into."

"Yeah? What is it?" Valeria opened a new page and skimmed the items that came up.

"Weyland and Yutani have had a geth ship bringing supplies from Rannoch ever since they asked me to join them. Food that quarians can eat, obviously, and medical supplies. We've been meeting in open space between star systems to receive the shipments to reduce the chances of other ships firing on them out of fear." Chula sighed. "Well, we found the geth ship adrift a few days ago. It had been attacked by some sort of stealth ship. I saw the vid records. The attackers were quarians. They boarded the ship, gunned down all the platforms who got in their way, and then executed all the geth in the ship's server."

Valeria's mouth dropped open and her mandibles spread apart in shock. "That's ... fucking _hell_! They probably killed tens of thousands of geth."

"Exactly."

"If that's not an act of war, I don't know what the hell _is_."

"That's what worries me. I'm hoping it's just a rogue group that somehow got their hands on an advanced stealth ship, but if they were authorized by the Admiralty Board, it'll only lead my people to a bad end." Chula took a long breath. "The good news is, Weyland and Yutani haven't informed the rest of the geth. They really want to avoid a shooting war, and are waiting until we learn more about the attackers. I'm thankful for their restraint. If the geth start thinking we're conducting sneak attacks on them, they might decide to wipe us out to avoid any more losses."

"Right." Valeria closed her eyes and shook her head slowly. "The Council probably won't even care if the quarians and geth started killing each other. Same goes for most of the galaxy. But _I_ care. Once we're finished with our current mission, I'll do some poking around and see what I can find. If I'm lucky, I'll dig up enough to confront the Admiralty Board, and if they're in on it, try to talk some sense into them."

"_Thank_ you! This has had me worried ever since I found out about it."

"I'm happy to do whatever I can to help. Preventing a war between the quarians and geth is one way of 'maintaining galactic stability' that I can get behind."

The door opened and Chula glanced over her shoulder. An asari in blue and white armor entered the office and made a right turn to the door leading to the shooting range. She barely glanced at Chula and Valeria, then stopped and stared at Chula.

"Well. How did _that_ get in here?"

"By invitation." Chula tipped her hat forward slightly and stared right back at her.

"And how the hell did that happen?" The asari turned to Valeria and chuckled. "Ah, Terakkis, I heard you were back. Bring one of your porn-vid costars along?"

Valeria sighed. "Tela Vasir, this is Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco-who may someday be a Spectre candidate. Chula, this is Tela Vasir-one of the many reasons I left the Spectres a few years ago."

Vasir flicked a mildly annoyed glance at Valeria, then laughed. "A quarian Spectre? What's that human phrase? Something about hell freezing over?"

Chula put her hands on her hips. "Valeria thinks I have potential."

"Does she, now?" Vasir laughed again. "Well, maybe you'd like to prove it."

Chula took a step forward. "Maybe I would."

Valeria held a hand up. "Uh, hold on."

"Feel up to a little sparring?" Vasir nodded over her shoulder at another door leading to the workout area.

"Can't." Valeria stepped between them. "We're equipping for an urgent mission and have to leave ASAP."

"Oh, of course. It couldn't _possibly_ be because you know I'll tear your pet quarian apart, could it?"

"The mission's legit," Chula said. "But I'll be available when we come back."

"Uh-huh. I'm absolutely _certain_ I'll be seeing you again." Vasir shook her head, laughed, and resumed her course toward the shooting range.

Chula turned to Valeria and said, "She's a real charmer, isn't she?"

Vasir stopped, turned, and narrowed her eyes at Chula. "How many hits can your kinetic barriers take, I wonder?"

"To know that, I'd have to actually let an opponent shoot me." Chula shrugged. "So, I don't know."

Valeria made a show of checking the time on her Omni-Tool. "Come on, we need to receive the shipment and bring it onboard the _Sulaco_."

Her Tool beeped urgently. She glanced at the display, silenced the alarm, and sighed. She pulled a small, disposable vial from a pocket, snapped the end off, and drank its contents.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Vasir approached again. "Not feeling well?"

"It's just to prevent allergic reactions." Valeria dropped the vial into a disposal chute.

"Ah, of course. Got a bit of 'humanitis,' have you?" Vasir chuckled.

"It's not my husband's fault that humans and turians have opposite chirality." Valeria put her hands on her hips and faced Vasir. "I have to take this stuff every fourteen hours to prevent anaphylactic shock when my hubby blows his wad inside me. Which happens multiple times every day, whether we're making a vid or not."

_Whoa._ Chula had to fight down a burst of laughter. _Keelah._

Vasir's lips curled and her blue face took on a very slight green tinge. Before she could retort, Valeria delivered the coup de grâce.

"How long has it been since the last time _you_ got laid that often without _paying_ someone to fuck you? Can you even remember?"

Vasir's jaw damned near hit the floor. As did Chula's.

_Oh. Wow! Oh, goddamn. Maybe I should step outside so I don't get any blood on me._

Valeria turned without another word and walked to the main door. Chula shrugged and followed her, but stopped in the doorway, turned, and let a quick laugh slip out.

"You might want to put some ice on that."

"I'm sure she can chisel some off her heart," Valeria muttered.

"See you in the arena when we get back." Chula doffed her hat, stepped into the corridor, and let the door close behind her. She tilted her hat at a rakish angle, laughed again, and stuck her hands into her pockets, "I think you might've broken her brain."

"It's so twisted, I'm surprised it didn't snap from the tension centuries ago." Valeria sighed and nodded at the elevator doors a few meters away. "Come on. We've got a kid to rescue."


	17. Chapter 17

"Here's what Elias Kelham told me about the Cerberus base on Chasca," Valeria said once everyone sat at the corner table in the mess hall. "There's a team of twenty-eight scientists working on various research projects-'research' meaning simply looking up information, crunching numbers, and so on. There are no experiments going on anywhere in the base, which is good because of so many of Cerberus's previous projects getting out of hand. I'd certainly prefer not to have to deal with any rampaging monsters created in their labs."

"So would I," Chula said. "Cerberus has a bit of a reputation among quarians, so I'm a little surprised that they're keeping a low profile, for once-but I'm not going to complain if we don't run into any super-biotic humans driven insane by their experiments or a pack of rabid, cyberneticized hideosities that used to be normal animals. Though I have to admit, the idea of Cerberus finally figuring out how to be discreet is troubling."

"Definitely. Still, from what Kelham told me, Cerberus is spread pretty thin these days. It was never a big operation to begin with, but they're starting to bite off more than they can chew. Building the new _Normandy_ and putting Commander Shepard back together after he was blown up with the original _Normandy_ two years ago, put a strain on their resources. Since then they've gone after the artifacts your clients found on Bekenstein, wormed their way into Kelham's organization with plans to gradually take over the Citadel, and a list of other things longer than Kelham's criminal record. So, when we arrive at Chasca, we'll find a team of mercs guarding Bailey's son. Cerberus simply doesn't have the manpower to spare for it."

"Do we know who the mercs are?"

"Blue Suns. Which means we'll probably be facing a team made up of humans, batarians, and turians. They operate primarily in the Skyllian Verge, but I've heard of them taking on gigs in the Terminus Systems as well, and now we've got a group in Citadel space."

"The Blue Suns are expensive," Magnum said. "If Cerberus sank most of their funds into the Lazarus Project, they must have popped off everything they had left on the Suns."

"Bringing Shepard back from the dead was a massive drain, but they still have some money left. Enough to hire a small team, anyway-we can expect a dozen or so, along with a few mech units for backup. And normally, that would be more than enough to babysit a single human teenager." Valeria sat on the edge of the table and placed her feet on the chair in front of her. "I won't tell you how to do your jobs, but I'd like a minimal body count, if at all possible. I mean, do what you feel is necessary, but I'm hoping _I_ can avoid taking any lives unless they give me no other option."

"You're really worried about that whole 'slippery slope' thing, aren't you?" Chula cocked her head. Her hat started to slip off and she reached up to push it back into place.

"It's easy for a Spectre to cross lines that should never be crossed, often without even realizing it. I just don't want to go too far." Valeria shrugged. "Again, I'm not forbidding you from taking any action you think is necessary. I'm only speaking for myself." She activated her Omni-Tool and tapped a set of its hard-light controls. "Having said that, in addition to the armor I requisitioned, I also authorized several upgrades for your Omni-Tools. Once you install them, your Tools will be able to produce enhanced incendiary and cryo blasts, neural-shock charges, and so on. You'll also have the latest in hacking tools, medical applications, and tech armor to boost your shields."

Magnum smiled. "_Nice_. Thank you."

"Any time." Valeria held up a talon. "There's one more new function I think you'll like. It's only recently been developed. It's called the Omni-Blade."

"_Oh_." Quint leaned forward. "Consider my curiosity aroused."

"Once you install this upgrade, your Tool's mini-fabricator will be able to flash-forge a silicon-carbide blade suspended in a mass effect field to protect the user." Valeria held her hands roughly a meter apart. "It's about this long, diamond-hard and searing-hot. Cuts through armor like it's not even there. Hot knife through butter, and all that shit."

"That's the first one I'm installing." Chula laughed softly and tapped a command into her Tool. "I assume it would also be handy for cutting through locked doors and whatnot?"

"Yes. Doors, walls, and whatever else. You can also format the weapon to your own preferences. For example, if you prefer a blunt instrument to bludgeon an opponent with."

Quint burst out laughing. "How much you wanna bet Dakka uses hers to forge a huge dildo to beat people's skulls in?"

"She wouldn't be the first person who made an Omni-dildo." Chula snickered. When everyone else turned to stare at her, she shrugged. "Quarians can't get out of these envirosuits unless we're in clean rooms, because of our barely-existent immune systems, and having sex can make us sick or kill us. And when we're on Pilgrimage, we're often alone for several years, not counting brief stops on planets or space stations. Therefore, quarians-speaking generally, that is-masturbate a _lot_."

"Well, as I recall, you had that asari hottie on Omega." Quint wiggled his eyebrows.

"Yeah, but I didn't take my suit off. It's why I keep my neuro-stim software up to date. You never know when you'll get lucky."

Valeria checked the time on her Omni-Tool and then tapped out a quick text message. "We should be reaching the mass relay shortly, and then it'll take a few hours to arrive at Chasca. Enough time for breakfast or lunch or whatever. We kind of left in a hurry, so ... "

"Yeah, I think I'll grab a bite to eat." Magnum stood and stretched. "Never go into combat with an empty stomach."

"Sounds good," Bailey said. He activated his Omni-Tool and downloaded the new upgrades. "I didn't think to eat anything before we left. As you might guess, I've got my mind on other things."

Magnum nodded and patted his shoulder before walking over to the kitchen.

"Guess I'll eat something, too." Quint finished installing his upgrades and pointed at the door. "But first I'm going to hit the comm room and record a message for Dakka."

"Tell her we hope she's back on her feet soon," Chula said.

Quint nodded and headed for the door. "She should be out of surgery by now."

"I do have one question," Bailey said. "A minute ago you said Commander Shepard was brought back from the dead." Bailey stared at Valeria with one eyebrow raised. "You want to run that by me again?"

"A little over two years ago, the original SSV _Normandy_ encountered an advanced, extremely powerful ship which belonged to a species known as the Collectors. I saw the flight recorder data that was sent automatically from the _Normandy_ during the battle." Valeria shivered slightly. "The Collector ship took the _Normandy_ out with only a few shots. Twenty crew members were killed in the attack, but the rest made it into the escape pods and launched. Shepard was blown through a rupture in the hull seconds before the ship exploded in orbit over Alchera. From what we've been able to piece together, his remains were recovered by the Collectors, who lost him to Cerberus. We're still not sure how that happened, but Cerberus got hold of his body and put him back together. From what we understand, there wasn't much of Shepard left-one of the people involved in the Lazarus Project described his remains as 'nothing but meat and tubes.' His armor must have prevented total incineration on entering the atmosphere, but there was so little of him left that it took Cerberus two years to rebuild him with technology they developed for specifically that purpose. If you ask me, it's just about the only good thing that organization has ever done."

"I'll be damned. When he showed up on the Citadel not too long ago, I thought the whole dead-for-two-years thing was a clerical error or an attempt at tax-evasion. But he really _was_ dead?"

"Extremely. I don't know how they did it, but from what Shepard was told, he's not a clone, or anything like that. They grew new arms and legs and organs, repaired what was left of his torso, added a whole lot of cybernetic implants, and somehow attached everything and got it to work. Restarted his heart and lungs, got his blood flowing again. No idea how he wasn't brain-dead by the time they got their hands on him, but maybe it was something the Collectors did to him. They were really interested in him, for some reason, and Cerberus wanted him brought back exactly as he was before he died."

Weyland spoke up for the first time, and everyone turned to look at him. "We have information relayed from the geth unit stationed on the _Normandy_. The Collectors were working for the Reapers. They wanted Shepard-Commander because he led the offensive against Sovereign's attempted invasion two years ago, and was instrumental in Sovereign's destruction."

"Huh." Bailey rubbed a finger slowly over his chin. "He got their attention."

"That is the current theory. It is also the suspected reason the Collectors began abducting human colonies in the Terminus Systems and were planning to target Earth."

"Well, I'm never gonna sleep well again." Bailey sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

"The reports Shepard sent to the Systems Alliance," Valeria said, "indicated that Cerberus brought him back and built a new, larger _Normandy _specifically so he could track the Collectors to their point of origin and stop them. Which he did. So that's one thing we don't have to worry about anymore, but the Reapers are still out there."

"I've heard rumors about them. The Council is denying they even exist, but ... "

"Once I was reinstated in the Spectres, I had access to the relevant files, mainly the reports from Shepard and his crew, and the data from the scans they ran on the Collectors and their equipment. And everything Shepard and crew learned two years ago, up to the battle at the Citadel. The Reapers appear to be a legitimate threat."

"I wonder why the Council spent the last two years brushing it off as a hoax instead of doing something about it?" Chula shook her head slowly.

"They're politicians. I doubt any of them can see farther than their own personal agendas."

"Typical." Bailey sighed, heaved himself off his chair, and headed for the kitchen. "This is just fucking wonderful."

#

"Lia'Vael?"

Lia looked up from the holo-projection above her palm and found a young human approaching her table with a smile. Several seconds passed as her brain re-engaged with her surroundings.

"Oh-uh, yes, I'm Lia'Vael. What can I do for you?"

"I'm Trenton Lockwood-people usually just call me Trent. Sorry I'm so late for our appointment. I had to jump through a few hoops on the way here."

"Oh, it's quite alright." She nodded at the video hovering above her hand. "I've had this looping for ... well, I'm not sure how long. I kind of lost track of time. Oh-please, sit. Sorry, I'm really not used to ... um ... 'transactions' like this."

"No worries." He pulled back the vacant chair and sat across from her.

She picked up the cup of dextro hot cocoa and eyed him while keeping her visor aimed at the cup. She didn't know enough about humans to guess a particular individual's age, but their lifespans were similar to that of the average quarian, and this one was ... _young_. At least, he _looked_ young. Old enough to be sexually active, certainly, but possibly underage. She wasn't certain what the laws regarding such things were here on the Citadel, so she would need to be careful.

On the other hand, since she hadn't yet completed her Pilgrimage, she was legally underage, herself. _If I'm wrong and he's an adult, I could get him into serious trouble._

She inserted the pre-sterilized straw into the tiny port in her helmet, pushed it through the membrane that kept the outside air from entering her suit, and sipped, while trying to think of a way to escape gracefully if this situation became too dicey.

Trent nodded at the vid as it looped back to the beginning again. "The scenery there is pretty. Looks a lot like the American Southwest-Utah or Arizona, specifically. Where is it?"

"Rannoch, actually."

"Your homeworld? Wow. Must be an old archive vid, then."

"Actually, this was recorded about two weeks ago. As far as I know, I'm the first quarian who's ever had the opportunity to see Rannoch as it is now."

"Wow, you've been there?" His smile broadened.

"I wish. There's a pair of geth mobile platforms on my ship; one of them gave me a copy of this vid to cheer me up." She shook her head and chuckled at the weirdness of the situation in which she'd found herself. "It worked."

"I only know the basics about the situation with the quarians and the geth, but I know enough to think it's a little odd that you're working with them."

"Not as odd as _I _find it." She laughed. "It's a long, screwed-up story."

"Well, now I'm curious." He brushed his fingers through his shoulder-length, brown hair, leaned forward and propped himself on his elbows, and smiled.

_He's ... kind of cute. For a human._

She pulled her gaze away from his brilliant smile and finished the last of her cocoa. She turned to the right and gazed over the rail at the edge of the small, "outdoor" cafe. Her balcony table overlooked a large park. Beyond it, a narrow city stretched into the distance, and the five wards-the "arms" of the Citadel station-arched overhead.

"Actually ... " Lia turned back to him, leaned closer, and lowered her voice. "Mind if we go for a walk and find someplace private to talk? There's something I need to ask you, but I don't want anyone overhearing the conversation."

"Sure. Anything you want." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. "Well, within reasonable parameters, that is."

_Uh ... okay._ She stood, stretched, and headed for the nearby stairs leading down into the park. Trent followed her, smiling slightly, as if he already had a good idea what she wanted to ask him. _Hmm. He might actually hear that question fairly often, now that I think about it._

"You're wondering about my age," he said after they'd spent a few minutes walking slowly among the trees.

"It crossed my mind. By quarian law, I'm not considered an adult yet, so if you _are_, then you'd be taking a risk."

"Well, don't worry. By human laws, I'm in the same boat. It'll be a few more years before I'm legal." He chuckled. "I admit, it's what you might call a niche market, but my clients tend to be females who are looking specifically for someone my age. They seem to gravitate toward me for whatever reason, so I went with the flow. I've noticed there are a lot of males who are looking for that as well, but I don't swing that way. I just refer them to a guy who does."

_Uh ... wow. What the hell?_ "I assume that kind of thing is illegal here?"

"Yep. My family lives on Illium, and the laws there have a lot more wiggle room. If I'm not misunderstanding them, basically, if you're not actually being harmed, nobody gets too worked up over it." He grinned. "And for me, at least, it's the exact opposite of being harmed, _and _I get paid for it." He chuckled and shrugged. "Anyway, my parents are here to visit family, so they brought me along."

"Ah, Illium." Lia paused at a tree to run her hand along its side. Her suit's neuro-stim system transferred the sensations into her brain and she smiled. "I was there for a while, before I ended up joining a merc crew."

"I haven't seen many quarians on Illium. Did your Pilgrimage take you there?"

She turned quickly and stared at him. "You know about the Pilgrimage? I usually have to explain it over and over to people I meet."

"One of my regulars is a quarian. I can't say more than that because of client confidentiality." He smiled and shrugged. "She told me a little about her culture, and the Pilgrimage was one of the subjects that came up."

"Ah. Yes, this is actually part of the long, screwed-up story I mentioned in the cafe." She held one of the tree's leaves gently before letting go and walking on. "I ran out of money and ended up stuck on the Citadel for a long time, and no one was willing to hire me for anything. I became desperate and decided to travel to Illium so I could sell myself into indentured servitude. Figured that was the only way I'd ever have a chance to get back on track." She fired off a bitter chuckle. "Not to mention avoid starving to death."

"Pretty drastic step, but yeah, sometimes you have to do whatever it takes to survive." He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "You're still on the Citadel, but you mentioned a crew, so I'm guessing it worked out?"

"It's ... still kind of in the process of working out, but I've taken a few steps in the right direction. Just in a really weird way." She took a deep breath. "I kept trying to get hired on as a ship's engineer, but couldn't find a crew who needed one _and_ was willing to hire a quarian. Finally, I happened across a human who _was_ willing to give me passage to Illium, but _not_ by taking me on as an engineer or technician."

"_Oh._" Trent winced. "I think I see where this is going."

"Right. He wanted sex. Without my envirosuit. Skin-to-skin contact, actual penetration, the works. He either didn't know about quarians' weak immune systems or just didn't care. I'm leaning toward 'didn't care,' honestly."

"Not only that, but there's the chirality thing, too. Most species I know of are based on levo-amino acid proteins, but quarians and turians are dextro-based."

"Right. I took all the immuno-boosters and allergy medications I had left, and that's probably the only reason I survived the experience. It takes a certain level of sleaze to even demand something like that in exchange for a lift to another planet."

"What an _asshole_. You must've gotten horribly sick afterward."

"It almost killed me, but in the end, it was worth it. I survived, and I'm actually in a better position now than I've been during the last year or longer. My Pilgrimage will be on hold for the duration of my contract, but I feel like I can make a difference now. And I have to admit, I'm finding a perverse kind of amusement in _how_ I ended up here."

"How so?"

"The people who picked up my contract from IndentuTech." She shook her head and laughed. "It was the geth. The geth _purchased_ me. I'm their _property_."

Trent stopped and stared at her. "Well. Uh. I guess that's textbook irony."

"Pretty much. They own the ship I'm serving on, which makes them the captains. There's another quarian on the crew, and it was her idea to buy me. She wanted to help me out of my jam. It happened just in time, too. If it had taken a couple more days, I probably would've died. But they had the medications I needed, and now I'm back in good health. It still seems fucked-up for me to even think this, but I owe the geth my life. I owe Chula, too, but they chose to accept her suggestion and take me onboard."

"I'm glad things worked out, then."

She nodded. "I'm just now realizing how lucky I am. I'm surprised at how reasonable the geth are, and how well they've been treating me, given the history between our peoples. And as I said a moment ago, I might be able to make a real difference. I shouldn't mention any specifics, but there are things going on that I have a chance to help out with."

Trent grinned and put his arm around her for a brief moment. "See, if you hang in there long enough, there's a chance things will turn out okay."

"Yeah. At least, a chance is far more than I had a couple weeks ago." Lia took a slow look around to be sure no one else was near enough to overhear, then unleashed her curiosity. "So, what's _your_ story?"

#

"How're you feeling, Ms. Forsan?"

"Huh?" Dakka looked over her shoulder at the asari doctor who'd just entered. They'd finished the surgery and brought her into another room. She'd been laying on her side and trying to find a position for her arm that wouldn't leave it sitting on top of her freshly-sealed incision. Not to mention her recently-reinflated lung.

The doctor walked around the bed to stand in front of Dakka, and frowned at her tablet. "Oh, maybe they gave me the wrong file. You're not Forsan Kalana?"

"Actually, yeah, but I haven't used that name in a long time. I dropped it when I had a falling-out with my entire species a couple of decades ago." She shrugged. "Long story. People call me Dakka now."

"Ah, okay. I'll note that in the file. So, how're you feeling?"

"A little sore. Feeling the surgeons reinflate my lung was interesting, but nothing I couldn't get over."

"You were awake for that?"

"The whole thing, yeah." She chuckled. "I guess the sedatives weren't strong enough."

"That's surprising. We've operated on krogan before, and it always worked. You must have a higher tolerance for sedatives. Not to mention pain." She skimmed the text on her tablet and raised a brow. "The notes here state that you sent a comm transmission and made several extranet transactions during your surgery, and then you played a video game on your Omni-Tool until the surgery was finished."

"Yeah, I left my Tool on when I got undressed." Dakka held her left arm up and pointed at the device around her wrist. "The first two things were to help cheer a friend up, and the video game was simply because I got bored."

"Ah." The doctor stared at her, completely at a loss for words. Dakka laughed.

"You should see the look on-"

Her Omni-Tool beeped. She activated the interface and tapped the flashing message icon. Quint's face appeared in the air above her hand. She squeed and bolted upright.

"Careful," the doctor blurted.

"It's my boyfriend!" She grinned and watched the message begin.

_"Hey, babe. We're en route and should have just enough time for lunch before we arrive. Wish you were here; I think you'd get a kick out of this. I'll tell you all about it when we get back."_ His face took on a slight red tint. _"Just wanted to call and say hi. Oh! And everyone else here hopes you're back in action soon. I'll see you when we get back."_

She grinned again and saved the message. _Yeah, I wish I could be there, too._

Her Tool beeped again, higher-pitched and more urgent, this time. A red message symbol flashed on the glowing interface around her left arm.

"Uh-oh." She tapped the icon and Yutani's flashlight-head appeared in the holofield. Beneath it a series of documents transferred in.

_"If you are viewing this message, it is because Arana Nelvos's genetic signature has been detected passing through a secure area of the Citadel and is approaching Citadel Security headquarters. Dossiers on Arana Nelvos and Jorax Lanius are attached. Please view them as soon as possible."_

Dakka paused the message, read the files, and shook her head.

"Oh, shit." She let the message continue.

_"Elias Kelham is being detained for further questioning in the matter of Cerberus's infiltration of his organization."_

Dakka stopped the playback. She didn't need to hear the rest.

_Great. Nelvos is here to whack Kelham, and C-Sec needs him alive. Fantastic._ She hopped off the bed, gritted her teeth, and tried to ignore the pain in her chest.

"Where's my armor?"

"Wait-you should stay in bed until you're healed."

"Krogan regenerate tissue quickly. Where's my armor?"

"It's been stored at C-Sec, along with your weapons."

"Oh, terrific. Got any civilian clothes I can borrow?"

"Well, nothing that would fit a krogan. But you really need to get back in-"

"It's an emergency." Dakka opened a comm channel to Yutani. "Hey, I got your message. I'm on my way to C-Sec."

"As are we. We need you to watch over our clients and their findings."

"To do that, I need my armor and guns. And guess where those are? Yep, C-Sec." She headed for the door, then stopped. _If Nelvos and her crew see me in this hospital gown, they'll know I'm injured._ "I have to go there anyway to pick up my gear. Please, stay with our clients. I'll deal with the situation in C-Sec."

"Acknowledged."

"Thanks, Boss." Dakka took the gown off and tossed it in the bed's general direction before storming through the door. _Fuck it._

Everyone in the waiting area reacted predictably as she streaked from one end of the huge room to the other. Gasps, a few startled cries, and nervous murmuring. Dakka weaved between them, trying not to knock anyone out of her way.

"Huh," a distant voice muttered. "There's something you don't see every day. Fortunately."

A human voice grumbled, "First naked female I've seen in person in months, and she has to be a krogan. Fuck my life."

"I dunno," another human said, "I actually think she's kind of hot."

Dakka grinned. _Thank you!_

She reached a clump of people near the door and pushed her way through them. "'Scuse me, pardon me, look out-naked krogan coming through!"

She squeezed into the elevator and tapped the control panel to select the C-Sec level. The doors closed and she glanced to the left and found a human and two salarians staring at her.

"What?"

The others exchanged a wide-eyed glance.

"Uh," the salarian on the right said.

"What? Seriously, what're you staring at?"

"Uh."

"Come on, spit it out." Dakka had to suppress a grin.

"Uh. Y-you're ... um ... " The salarian glanced at the other two again. "Naked."

"What?" Dakka looked down at herself and pretended to be horrified. "Fuck me! Why didn't someone tell me this sooner?"

After a long pause, the salarian finally said, "Uh."

Dakka snickered. "Sorry, I'm just fuckin' with ya. Sometimes I can't help myself."

The doors parted. Dakka glanced at the panel to be sure this was the floor she wanted, then bolted into the corridor.

"Even for a krogan," the human mumbled, "she's _nuts_."

#

"Back already?" Malcolm Takahashi chuckled as Yutani returned to the lab, still wearing that femme-Santa costume from the party on Bekenstein. She had left only a few seconds ago to take care of a crisis in the C-Sec office.

"Another crew member was already on her way to the location of the conflict. She is working to resolve it now."

"Good to hear." He slipped his hand into Benny's and turned back to the monitor. In the corner of his eye, Goresk leaned on the back of a vacant chair and stared at the screen with all four eyes practically popping out of his head. The science team stood or sat in front of Malcolm and Benny. They hadn't taken their eyes off the screen since the three of them arrived.

Yutani joined them and pointed her single optic at the current recording, which showed yet another armada of immense, cuttlefish-shaped ships massacring fleet after fleet of opposing vessels. The smaller ships threw everything they had at the Reapers, but were blown out of the sky so quickly, it was like watching popcorn cooking.

Much of the time, the Reapers didn't even bother to return fire. They simply surged forward and rammed the other ships, knocking them aside or crushing them or tearing them to shreds, and continued on as if they hadn't even noticed the impacts.

In the last half hour, Malcolm had seen too many records that ended the same way.

_Yeah ... gonna have nightmares for the rest of my life._

The current vid ended, and Goresk sank into the chair he'd been leaning on. "If those things really are gearing up for another invasion, we're all screwed."

"Maybe not," Dr. T'Lura muttered as she reached out to scroll through the list of files. "Before you guys got here, one of the vids we saw showed an enormous mass accelerator weapon that blasted clean through _eight_ Reapers and carved the Great Rift Valley into the surface of Klendagon."

"You actually saw what did that?" Benny's eyes widened and he grinned. "Oh, that must've been _amazing_!"

"It was pretty impressive. If we can find that weapon, reverse-engineer it, and mass-produce it, we'll have a chance. The problem is, that battle happened thirty-seven million years ago. Kinda cuts down on the odds of anyone finding the thing." T'Lura sighed. "But maybe the plans for it are in one of these files. Or if not, then maybe something that'll point us toward other information depositories."

"I hope you find something useful. And soon." Goresk glanced at the monitor and looked away quickly.

"Advanced weapons have already been acquired," Yutani said. "After Sovereign's destruction, turian crews removing its debris from the Citadel found the Reaper's main cannon and power source intact. Their salvage of the weapon led to the development of the Thanix cannon."

Malcolm raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, I don't know a whole lot about guns."

"For ammunition, it uses a liquid alloy of iron, uranium, and tungsten suspended in an electromagnetic field. The liquid alloy is fired at a fraction of the speed of light, and solidifies as it is fired. It impacts on its target with enough kinetic energy to penetrate any known shields or armor hull plating. The SSV _Normandy_ was upgraded with a pair of these cannons before its battle with the Collectors. Shepard-Commander and his contacts in the Systems Alliance are working to upgrade more of their ships."

T'Lura smiled. "I'm relieved that at least _someone_ is trying to prepare for the Reapers. If the Council hadn't pissed around for two years ... oh, well. Maybe we still have a chance."

One of her assistants, another asari named Dala Selyria, waved a hand at the screen. "It's possible the Reapers are extinct and Sovereign was the last one. These vids are, at minimum, fifty thousand years old, and we've only viewed a fraction of them."

"I certainly hope we're getting all cranked up about nothing, but I'd prefer to err on the side of caution."

"That is a wise choice," Yutani said. "The crew of the _Normandy_ has evidence that the Reapers are a real and imminent threat."

"I read some of their reports, but too much of it was redacted for 'security reasons.' The Council and Alliance Command aren't letting anyone hear the full story."

"I will contact the geth unit onboard the _Normandy_ and request full disclosure to your team. Though Shepard-Commander remains in contact with some of his former commanding officers in the Alliance, he is no longer a member and is not subject to their authority. There is a high probability that he will grant the request."

"That's excellent news. Thank you."

Goresk glanced up at her and nodded at the screen. "He'll probably be interested in what you've found."

"I'm sure he will." T'Lura grinned. "We'll put together a small sample of what we've found so far and send it to him. Then we'll keep analyzing the rest of it while we wait to hear back from him."

Malcolm's Omni-Tool emitted a whistle and he stepped away from the group. "Oops, I'll just take this over there." He took a few more steps across the room and tapped the flashing incoming-call icon. Dr. Michel's face appeared on the Tool's hard-light surface and he grinned. "Hello."

"Good afternoon, Malcolm. I thought you'd like to know that I received an answer from Dr. Chakwas on the _Normandy_. They recently finished a mission in the Typhon system and are on their way to the Citadel. She's looking forward to meeting you and examining your batarian friend."

"I'm glad to hear that! I'll let Goresk know right away."

"The _Normandy_'s ETA is tomorrow morning. Dr. Chakwas will meet us in my office. I'll let you know when I have a more precise time of arrival."

"We'll be there. Thanks, Doc!" He and Michel signed off, and he hurried back to the others. "Good news, guys-the _Normandy_ is already on the way. Goresk, Dr. Chakwas will have a look at Kolos and see if she can figure out how to help him."

"That's good to hear." Goresk smiled. "After seeing these vids, I needed some good news."

"Whoa," one of the human scientists blurted.

_Uh-oh. Now what?_ Malcolm turned to face the screen and found an image of a planet with boxes of alien text beside it.

"What is it, Geoff?" Dr. T'Lura turned around and froze at the sight of the screen. "That's Thessia."

Another asari, Belyna Nyxeria, pointed at the text. "I recognize that language. It's Prothean."

"Can you translate it?"

"I'm not an expert, but let me see what I can do." Dr. Nyxeria stared at the image, her eyes flicking back and forth as she scanned the words, and finally she slumped back in her chair and gaped at T'Lura. "If I'm reading it correctly, it says there are other information depositories like this one on Thessia and many other planets."

T'Lura stared at her for a moment, then gaped at the image. Finally, she raised a hand to her forehead, as if suddenly dizzy. "Goddess. This ... I ... damn. It was under our noses for thousands of years."

Dr. Selyria turned slowly to meet her gaze. "We were among the first species in this fifty-thousand-year cycle to achieve interstellar travel. We've been at it for thousands of years. I doubt there's any part of Thessia that hasn't been explored thoroughly. Yet we're only now finding out about this?"

"That thought crossed my mind, too. If our governments back home knew about this, then Councilor Tevos probably does, as well. Maybe even the whole Council."

"Whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Geoff Milson said, raising a hand.

T'Lura took a deep breath and rubbed her hands over her face, then ran her palms over her head crest. "Right. Of course. You're right, Geoff. We need more information."

Malcolm glanced around from one of them to another and shivered.

Benny put his arm around Malcolm's shoulders. "Hey, it's getting late and things are getting too heavy in here. And I'm starting to get hungry. Whaddaya say we go somewhere for dinner and then find a hotel room?"

"Yeah, sounds good, babe."

"Good idea," Goresk muttered. "Think I'll do the same. But first I could use a stiff drink. Or ten. I'll see you guys later."

The scientists barely noticed the exchange. Dr. T'Lura pointed at the image of her homeworld.

"Let's copy what we've seen so far, and put that file on top of the stack. We'll give Shepard a copy when the _Normandy_ arrives, and send another copy to the Council immediately." She scowled at the monitor and reached out for the console under it. "One way or another, this should light a fire under their asses."


	18. Chapter 18

"I've only been doing this for about two years," Trent said. "My parents moved to Illium for a job opportunity when I was little, and they've been working at the Nos Astra spaceport ever since. When I hit my teens, I got into that phase where you want your own space and want to go out and see all the places your parents tell you never to go."

Lia laughed. "I thought my Pilgrimage was going to be that exact kind of adventure. Then reality completely kicked my ass."

He nodded. "Oh, yeah, I consider myself extremely lucky. As much as Illium tries to present itself as upscale, it's the kind of place where, if you wander down the wrong alley, you feel a jab in the back of your neck and when you wake up, you're in chains on a ship somewhere in the Terminus Systems, being used as slave labor or a sexual plaything, and never see your friends or family ever again." He stuck his hands into his pockets and shivered.

"That's seriously unnerving." Lia shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. "I noticed a certain 'vibe' about Illium, but I had no idea it was _that_ bad."

"Yeah. That's why I feel like I'm so lucky." He stopped at a hedge sprinkled with flowers that looked like red and yellow tulips, leaned over toward them, and drew in a slow, deep breath. "Anyway, I fell into this kind of work one night when I sneaked out of our apartment. My parents didn't want me wandering around alone for obvious reasons, but I just _had_ to get out and meet up with some friends and see what kind of mischief we could get into. On my way to hook up with 'em, I walked past a bunch of other teenagers and early twenty-somethings hanging out on a particular street corner. I didn't pay much attention until a guy walked over to this asari girl. She was probably a few decades old, but for an asari, that's the equivalent of early teens. The guy talked to her for a moment, then they hurried over behind a synthetic hedge, where they couldn't be seen from the street, and humped it out right there."

Lia stared at him for several seconds before she found her voice. "Wh ... what?"

"I kind of felt sorry for the guy, because it was over in about fifteen seconds. But he paid her and continued on his way, and a minute later she came back to the corner with this shit-eating grin, and said that was the fastest thousand credits she'd ever made."

"_Thousand_?" Lia struggled to form a coherent thought. Finally, she simply shook her head.

"Yep. When I picked my jaw up off the ground, the only thought going through my head was, 'Oh shit! Oh _shit_! I gotta get out of here before the police arrest all of us!'" He laughed. "I figured the cops would assume I was one of the hookers. Well, it turns out someone else made that assumption, and that's how I found my career."

_This is really fucked-up. But I have to know what happened next._ Lia nodded and waited for him to continue.

"An asari arrived in a rapid-transit car, looked around, and picked me out of the crowd. I probably should've kept walking." Trent shrugged and grinned. "But I admit, in the back of my mind I was kind of hoping I was about to get laid and maybe even make a few credits. I didn't really think it would actually happen. Next thing I knew, we were having dinner in a fancy restaurant, and then she took me to her hotel room. I was never sure why she picked me. I didn't have the slightest idea what I was doing, but who knows, maybe that was her kink. She seemed to have a good time." He grinned. "So did I."

"Ah. Well. Lucky you, then."

"My thoughts exactly. Anyway, afterward she gave me a chit with three thousand credits on it. Then she had to go back to her normal life, and I ran back home, slipped into my room through the window, and pretended nothing had happened. The next day, as soon as I could get away from my parents for a couple hours, I set up a new bank account and deposited the money." He shrugged and smiled. "I was back on the same street corner that night."

"Huh." Lia noticed a bench a few meters away and walked over to it. "No offense, but don't you think that's a little weird?"

"Sure, I do. Absolutely. It was also a stupid risk, given all the things that could've happened if that lady had turned out to be a serial killer, or slaver, or even worse." He shrugged again. "On the other hand, I had a _spectacular_ night-and the whole experience was a bit of an adventure. Sneaking out and seeing a part of the city I'd never seen before, and all that."

"Well, then, I'm happy it worked out." She sat on the bench.

"So am I, believe me. I've seen some kids get into that sort of life and end up completely _ruined_, if they manage to survive it at all. That's the underside of Illium, though. Every moment of every day, I'm aware I've dodged the bullet." He sat beside her.

"You're not worried about being unable to dodge more bullets? Having someone go too far and hurt you, or worse?"

"That's actually covered. There's a small team of Eclipse mercs who were assigned to watch over us-the group of us on that street corner. I didn't know it my first night 'on the job,' but the escorts in that part of Nos Astra had already worked out a deal with these Eclipse girls. They take five percent of each fee and free 'sessions' whenever they want it, and in return they keep us safe. Whenever I'm with a client, one of these girls is nearby. If I feel like I'm in danger, all I have to do is say a code-word and she'll show up so fast it'll affect the planet's rotation."

"Oh. Wow. I'll be on my best behavior, then."

He laughed and waved his hands. "No, relax, you're fine. You're a good person. I can tell just from talking with you."

"That's a relief." Lia chuckled. "Have you ever needed their protection, though?"

"Only once. A guy tried to pick me up. Like I said earlier, I don't swing that way, so I referred him to a couple other guys who do. I think he was drunk or high, from the way he acted. Or maybe he was just nuts. Wouldn't take no for an answer. Then he grabbed me and tried to pull me into his car. I blurted out the code-word, and the Eclipse merc came out of nowhere. I didn't even see her appear-just, suddenly, there she was." Trent whistled softly. "First she dislocated the guy's kneecaps so he couldn't get away. Then she broke his fingers. All of them. _At every knuckle._"

All Lia could do was stare at him in shock.

"Word must've gotten around, because no one ever tried anything like that again, with any of us."

After staring for a few more seconds, Lia shook her head and mimicked his whistle. "I ... I would certainly hope not."

"So, all things considered, I can think of worse ways to earn a living." He grinned.

"Yeah. No shit." Lia turned slightly, rested her right arm on the back of the bench, and gazed at him for a moment before speaking again. "I feel like I shouldn't find this as fascinating as I do, but I can't help it. But I suppose you want to 'get down to business,' so ... "

"Actually, I'm okay just talking if that's what you want to do. However you want to spend our time together, it's okay with me." He mimicked her pose and smiled.

"Ah. Well, I do have a few more questions, then."

He nodded. "Fire away."

#

_Aw, shit._ Dakka stood a few meters from the entrance to the C-Sec office and stared at the three dozen asari in Eclipse armor, all of them aiming their rifles point-blank at the officers.

_Fantastic. Every one of them probably has centuries of training and combat experience, and I'm a snot-nosed ninety-nine-year-old who's learning this stuff as she goes._ Dakka crept around behind them until she got a clear look into the office. Nine C-Sec agents faced off with the mercs, aiming their own pistols and rifles straight back at them. _I could probably take half of them before they blow me away, but they'd massacre everyone in the office at the same time._

One of the C-Sec guys, the turian General Kurakova had called Tarsus, spotted Dakka. His eyes opened wider.

She shook her head quickly and raised a talon to her mouth. Tarsus wiped the surprise off his face and shifted his eyes back to the Eclipse leader.

Boots thumping on the floor to Dakka's right drew her attention. She turned and found four more C-Sec officers rushing up the stairs. She repeated the "shhh" gesture and pointed at the Eclipse troops, then she glanced around at the civilians who'd stopped to gawk. Dakka hurried over to the four guys.

"What the hell?" one of them muttered. "Uh, you're naked."

She stared at him. "No shit, Sherlock. Maybe now you can use your brilliant powers of observation to detect the hundred or so civilians clumped around this powder keg. Might be a good idea to clear 'em out so no one catches a stray shot."

One of them opened his mouth, but another silenced him with a glance.

"She's right. We clear the area first."

Dakka nodded. "Then close the bulkhead doors and seal it off. You can pin these girls between you and the officers inside. I'll make sure none of 'em look in your direction." She turned and strode toward the C-Sec office.

_Since I can't fight them all off without a bunch of people getting their brains blown out ... guess I'll have to try to talk the Eclipse out of it first. Never done that before. Probably gonna fuck it up._

"Excuse me." She squeezed past one of the Eclipse on the left. "Pardon me. Excuse me." She continued pushing through them. Helmets whipped around to lock on to her as she passed by, and she smirked at the thought of them gaping at her behind those blank faceplates.

"What the hell?" One of them blocked her path. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Get the fuck outta my way." Dakka pushed her aside and continued past the rest. _Oh yeah, krogan diplomat. That's me._ She stepped up to Tarsus and said, "I'd like my armor back, please."

"Uh, what?"

"What the hell," one of the mercs mumbled. "You're naked."

_Seriously?_ Dakka turned and growled, "I fucking noticed that. It's because these guys have my armor and all my other clothes are on my ship, which is halfway across the galaxy at the moment." She glanced at the faces of each asari who wasn't wearing a helmet, and found Nelvos's scarred-up mug. She turned to face the merc leader. "So, what's going on, here? I'm sensing just a _little_ hostility."

"None of your business. Get out of our way or get blasted full of holes."

"You're here for Elias Kelham, right?"

"How do you know that?"

"I'm on the team that captured him."

"Then you know why I want him dead."

"Yeah. But the thing is, C-Sec needs him alive to answer more questions. He has critical information about-"

"Not my problem," Nelvos snarled.

Dakka sighed. "Look, I can understand what you're going through, but-"

"How the fuck could _you_ understand what _I'm_ going through? Where do you get off saying that?"

Dakka snarled and almost took a step toward her, but she reigned herself in. She took a few deep breaths, and then an idea came to her.

"Okay, I want to show you a photo." Moving her arms slowly, she activated her Omni-Tool and projected the image of her and Quint in bed that Chula had taken the morning they'd entered orbit over Bekenstein. Dakka had asked her for a copy of it on the shuttle down to the surface. "See this guy? I haven't even told him yet, but he means the universe to me."

Nelvos stared at the picture and struggled to keep her fierce expression on, but it slipped ever so slightly. "Okay, that's ... th ... that's sweet." Her lips quivered.

"How do I know what you're going through? Well, I know how I'd feel if anything happened to my guy. I know how much it would hurt. I know how much I'd want to kill the motherfucker who took him from me."

"Then why are you trying to stop me?"

"Kelham has information C-Sec needs, for one thing."

"I heard that the first time you said it. I still don't care."

"For another, he's already been arrested. Storming into the center of security on the goddamned _Citadel_ and blowing his head off-seriously, does that really seem like a good idea? Sure, piss off the Council with a terrorist act right on their doorstep. How many Spectres do you think they'd send after your ass until one of 'em finally capped you?"

Nelvos lunged forward, stared directly into Dakka's eye, and hissed, "I. Don't. _Care_." She took a few breaths and regained control of herself. "My life wasn't worth shit before I met Jorax, and now that he's gone, what do you think it's worth? What makes you think I give a wet shit whether I live or die once I break every bone in Kelham's body and then slit his fucking throat?"

"Is this what Jorax would want?"

Nelvos stared at her. The former commando's expression was unreadable, but her eyes flicked away for a second before coming back to Dakka.

_Ah, that's it. That's the crack in her armor._ "Do you think Jorax would want you to throw your life away?"

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't think anything, anymore. He's fucking _dead_. Because Kelham plowed his car into him and walked away like he didn't even notice anything had happened."

"Jorax made your life worth living, right? I mean, that's the impression I got from your dossier."

Nelvos continued staring at her. Her lips pressed together, twisted into a grimace, and tears trickled from her eyes.

"If you go through with this," Dakka continued, "then it was all for nothing. Might even be like spitting on his memory."

Nelvos's expression crumpled for a second before she pulled herself back together.

Dakka sighed and pointed at a bench sitting against the wall to the left. "Let's talk about this."

"There's nothing to-"

"Come on, just for a minute or two. If you're not convinced, then everybody can still shoot each other if that's what you really want. But give me a couple minutes, at least. Okay?" Dakka walked over to the bench and sat. She looked up at the C-Sec officers and mercs and said, "The rest of you just, uh, keep pointing your guns at each other if it makes you feel better."

Nelvos stared at her for nearly a full minute. Then, slowly, she walked over to the bench. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open, as if she couldn't believe she was even considering this.

She sat and stared straight ahead. Finally, her eyes shifted around, as if trying to find something to grab on to. Her gaze landed on the photo of Dakka and Quint. She wiped more tears from her eyes and cheeks.

"He likes them young, I see."

Dakka chuckled. "So do you, from what I've heard."

"I didn't plan things that way. It just ... sort of ... happened." Her eyes welled up again, and she clenched her fists and gnashed her teeth, forcing the tears back. A smile appeared and vanished almost instantly. "Our paths crossed one day, and it was like someone flipped a switch. All he said to me was, 'Hello.' Just ... _wham_. That was all it took."

"That's kind of how it was with me and Quint. We were on Virmire, extracting some colonists and fighting off a bunch of pirates. Then we ran into some rogue geth. They had one of their Colossus units, and it was charging up its main cannon. I thought we were screwed. Then Quint hacked the Colossus, locked up its cannon somehow, and when it discharged there was nowhere for the pulse to go except back down its neck. _Boom_-the whole platform exploded. And there Quint was, standing right out in the open, grinning and giving it the finger right before it blew up. It was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen. So, from that moment on, all I could think about was how much I wanted to fuck him."

Nelvos laughed, but it faded quickly.

Dakka smiled. "It's even more than that, now. If I lost him, I'm pretty sure I'd snap. If someone took him away like Kelham took Jorax, I don't think I'd care what happened to me after I got my hands on the son of a bitch. And you know what? I think Quint would be disappointed with me. I think I could handle him being angry. But disappointed? If I went down that road, I'd never have deserved him in the first place."

Nelvos stared at her, unmoving, her face unreadable again. The silence stretched on for what felt like an hour before she finally spoke.

"There were so many things that drew me to Jorax. One of them was how he didn't appear to even notice these." She waved a hand at all the scars crisscrossing her face. "You're right, he turned my life around. I started thinking about retiring so we could spend more time together. Humans, turians, salarians-their lives are so brief as it is, and I didn't want to waste a single moment of it. If I left Eclipse and took a quiet, mundane job, we could've been together for the better part of a century before I had to finally kiss him goodbye one last time."

She sobbed and more tears spilled down her cheeks. She took a deep breath and pulled herself together enough to continue speaking.

"All those years we _should have _had. Kelham not only murdered my husband, he also took away all those years we should've had together. But do you know how many years we _did_ have? _Three_. That's it. So why shouldn't I want that piece of shit Kelham dead?"

"If he were still running loose, then sure, he'd be fair game. But he's been arrested. He's locked up, and you'd have to kill all these people to get to him. People who have families, like Jorax had you. It wouldn't be right."

"What the hell do you expect me to do? Just let it go?"

"Give yourself some time to heal. Let the courts handle Kelham. He's facing more charges than just Jorax's death. He tried to have a politician assassinated a few months ago, and put a hit on one of my friends' grandmother-in-law because she witnessed what he did to Jorax. Plus all the shit he did when he was running his operation here. He'll rot in prison for the rest of his life. And if he doesn't, once he's free, _then_ you can take him out. Does that sound fair enough?"

"I don't know." Nelvos leaned forward and propped her forehead on her palm. "Goddess damn it, I don't know." She stared at the floor for another long moment. "What does he know that's so important to C-Sec?"

"Ever heard of Cerberus?"

Nelvos looked up abruptly. "I've encountered them before." She pointed at one of her scars. "That's how I got this. What do they have to do with Kelham?"

"They were taking over his operation. We think they were planning to work their way out from there and gradually infiltrate the whole Citadel. Can you imagine what would've happened if they managed to pull it off?"

"Hmm." Nelvos stared at her for a few more seconds. "That would've made things interesting."

"I know I'm just a punk-ass kid, and I don't know shit about politics, but even I can see the kinds of trouble a xenophobic bunch like Cerberus could stir up if they sank their tendrils into the Council."

Nelvos nodded. "They could dig up dirt on the Council and blackmail them, or hold their family members hostage to get what they want."

"Exactly. Hey, I've got no problem with humanity advancing, but at the expense of everyone else? I've got a major problem with _that_." Dakka turned to look Nelvos in the eye. "Also, if they took control of the Council and started pushing everyone else around, they could turn the whole galaxy against the humans. Since I'm in love with one of them, you can imagine I wouldn't be too thrilled about that."

Nelvos wiped more tears off her cheeks and nodded again. "I'm sure he has family and friends on Earth and its colonies. You don't want them getting hurt."

"Exactly. And if it came down to that, I'd stand with them against the whole galaxy. So give us a chance to stop this before it takes root, so it _doesn't_ come to that. Whaddaya say?"

Nelvos crossed her arms over her chest and stared at a point on the wall across the room. Her jaw muscles twitched.

Dakka flicked a glance at the two opposing forces. They still had their guns aimed at each other, but most of them had turned to watch her and Nelvos. One of Nelvos's lieutenants swept her gaze slowly over Dakka's body and smiled. Dakka looked into her eyes, arched a brow ridge, and moved her legs a little farther apart to give her an unobstructed view.

_Enjoy it, because this is as close as you're ever getting to it._

The woman's face turned a darker shade of blue and she looked away. Dakka suppressed another laugh and turned back to Nelvos.

Nelvos finally looked up at her squad and twitched her head to the left. They lowered their guns, turned, and filed out the door, leaving the C-Sec officers staring at their receding backs and then exchanging a series of confused glances.

"Okay. Keep the piece of shit. Get your answers out of him. Put him on trial. But if he's released, he's _mine_." Nelvos heaved herself up and stood with her shoulders slouched.

"Fair enough." Dakka rose to her feet and held her hand out. "Thank you."

Nelvos hesitated, then shook Dakka's hand. She turned slowly and trudged away, joining her squad outside. She shuffled past them without speaking, and they fell into step behind her.

Dakka sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. _Well, fuck me sideways, that actually worked!_

"I'll be damned," one of the officers muttered. "Never thought I'd see a krogan reason with an enemy instead of just killing 'em."

"Me, too." Dakka shrugged. "Fighting would've been more fun under normal circumstances, but this was a bad tactical situation. Close quarters, confined space, outnumbered three-to-one. Watching them kill all of you wouldn't have been fun at all."

"Can't argue with that." Tarsus walked up to her, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, and laid his hand on her shoulder. "That was pretty impressive."

"For me, it was more surprising than anything else. I expected her to kill us all, anyway." She grinned and clapped him on the shoulder. "Now, about my armor? Or should I just keep walking around naked?"

"I wouldn't mind, actually," one of the humans behind Tarsus muttered to another.

Dakka and Tarsus stared at her. The woman blushed and pointed a thumb over her shoulder.

"I'll just, uh, go get your armor." She turned and scurried through the door behind her.

Tarsus shook his head, walked over to the nearest desk, leaned on its edge, and let a long sigh rush out. He looked up at Dakka and muttered, "Well, I hope your friends are having as much fun as we just had."

#

"We're almost there," Chula said as she guided the shuttle across Chasca's landscape. "Three more minutes."

Everyone in the passenger compartment readied their Omni-Tools and checked their weapons one last time. With a tap on each of their Tools, glowing tech armor appeared over their physical armor, adding another layer of protection between that and their kinetic barriers.

Valeria sat beside Chula and looked over the control panels in front of her. "Hmm. I'm picking up a lot of movement at the Cerberus base, but only a few life signs."

"Could be mechs," Bailey muttered.

"Yeah. That, or a pocket of rogue geth units like the ones Quint and Dakka encountered on Virmire."

"We'll know in a couple minutes." Chula dropped a little more altitude and weaved the shuttle through a mountain range until she spotted the alloy modules of the Cerberus research facility. She found a flat area big enough for the shuttle and landed. "Okay, just a couple hundred meters and we're there."

Bailey nodded and opened the hatch. He was the first on the ground, followed quickly by everyone else.

Valeria scanned the area ahead with her Omni-Tool. "Still a lot of things moving around, but fewer life signs than before. Only five, now." She glanced at her Tool again and winced. "Four."

Some of the color drained from Bailey's face. "Shit! We could already be too late."

Valeria burst into a sprint and the rest kept up with her. They ran through the ravine between one last pair of mountains and emerged into the clearing where the base sat. Chula stopped and took a slow look around, and everyone else did the same.

"Keelah."

Several dozen tripod-like devices surrounded them, some of which had metal spikes extending several meters into the air. The sides of the spikes had brown streaks, as if a fluid had trickled down them and dried.

"I think I've seen these before," Chula said softly. "Can't quite pin it down, though."

"Do not approach them," Weyland almost snapped. His tone sounded unusually urgent. "These devices have been encountered on Eden Prime and many other planets. Alliance marines call them 'Dragon's teeth.' They impale organic beings and inject nano-machines which convert muscle and organs into cybernetic parts, then the bodies are reanimated with an electric charge."

"Now I remember these things," Valeria said, turning toward the base and motioning for them to follow her. "I saw them in news reports over the last few years. Every now and then, there'd be an outpost that fell out of contact, and when a crew was sent in to investigate, they found these spike things and a bunch of ... I guess you'd call them cybernetic zombie creatures. The people in the outposts had been converted into whatever those things were."

"I remember Malcolm mentioning something like that when he briefed us on Bekenstein." Chula shivered at the memory. "He said something about people being turned into 'husks.'"

"I guess that's as good a word as any. The reports from witnesses who survived said the resulting creatures were mindless and attacked anyone nearby."

The team emerged from the spike devices and ran for another dozen meters before stopping. Chula turned to stare at the Dragon's teeth.

"I just now realized-those brown streaks on the spikes are probably dried blood." She shook her head slowly. "What the hell were these people _thinking_?"

"It's possible they weren't experimenting with these things. Some of the base's personnel might've found them, got too close, and ended up impaled. Husks could be programmed to grab nearby organics and convert them into more husks, if there are only a few of them at the beginning."

"Oh, hell," Bailey groaned. "My son ... "

"Let's not make any assumptions." Valeria performed another scan. "Two life signs and a whole lot of movement. Let's go!"

Chula and the rest followed her at a dead run until they came within a few meters of the research facility's nearest module.

"Christ," Quint whispered.

Strewn all over the ground between them and the base was an assortment of mangled bodies and body parts, dropped guns, and several different colors of blood splattered everywhere. Chula counted seventeen fresh corpses, a mixture of krogan, turian, asari, and one human. Their armor didn't have any of the markings of the most well-known merc companies.

"No Cerberus uniforms," Magnum muttered, sinking to one knee and leaning over for a closer look at one of the bodies. She glanced at Bailey and added, "There's a chance your son is still safe. These are independent mercs, not Blue Suns. Kinda like us."

One of the krogan bodies moaned. Everyone rushed over to him and gathered around. Valeria scanned him and he opened his eyes.

"Got to ... get away ... " He coughed up blood and spat it out. He sobbed and tears trickled from his eyes. "Oh ... children ... couldn't save ... "

"What?" Bailey's face paled even more.

"What happened?" Chula took a medi-gel pack from her pocket and reached out to apply it. She took a good look at his wounds and wondered where the hell to start.

"Distress signal ... came to ... inves-" He cried out weakly and grimaced. His breathing grew quicker and more shallow. "Humans ... turned into ... "

"Just like we thought." Magnum sighed.

"Children," the krogan moaned. "Couldn't ... "

"There were kids here?" Quint turned suddenly to stare at the base and covered his mouth with his hand.

"If the Cerberus personnel expected to be here for a long time," Magnum said, "they probably brought their families."

"So ... you mean _kids_ were turned into-" Quint's face turned white and he turned around to stare at the Dragon's teeth.

"Arrived ... too late." The merc sobbed again, curled up, squeezed his eyes shut, and let out another weak, strangled cry. "I'm so sorry!" He exhaled one last time and stopped moving.

Magnum sniffed and rubbed the backs of her hands over her eyes.

Valeria sighed and raised her left hand. Her Omni-Tool interface appeared around her arm and she turned slowly, performing an intensive scan. She stopped a few seconds later and pointed into the mountains.

"I'm picking up fourteen life signs in that direction, plus a half-dozen electronic signatures-probably the mech support units we were expecting."

"Sounds like the Blue Suns team, alright." Chula glanced at Bailey. "That's probably where your son is."

Valeria continued her scan, turning in a full circle before she finished. "No other life signs."

"Let's hurry, then." Chula took one step, then a horrifying sound reached her suit's auditory sensors and she froze, her heart suddenly pounding. A wave of soft, hollow, hissing-snarling-gasping-moaning came from somewhere behind her.

Valeria glanced over her shoulder, spun around, and pulled the heavy rifle from her back, all in a single, smooth motion. "Contact rear!"

Everyone faced the same direction and raised their weapons as a swarm of humanoid monstrosities charged out from behind one of the modules. They looked like desiccated corpses with a metallic skin covered with glowing blue components. The same blue glow came from their empty eye sockets and their mouths hung open as if frozen in a permanent scream.

Most were the size of adult humans, but others were ... smaller.

Quint released a sort of whispered scream and opened fire with his submachine gun.

Magnum remained on one knee and fired a single shot from her Mattock into the lead husk's forehead, ripping the top and back of its skull off. It collapsed and the rest trampled it, not even aware it was under their feet. She shifted her aim to another and blew its head off, then aimed at another, her face taking on a look that was somehow calm yet enraged as she nailed one headshot after another.

Valeria fired a series of quick bursts, punching holes through the husks' chests.

Yet the damned things continued their blind charge.

_In a few more seconds, they'll be too close to shoot._ Chula returned her pistols to her hips and pulled out her swords. "Guys, keep out of my reach!"

"Fuck," Magnum grumbled as the remaining husks came within arm's reach. She stood as the nearest one pulled its clawed hand back to slash at her face. She flipped her rifle over and drove its stock into the side of the husk's head. It staggered off to the left. She flipped her rifle again and drilled a shot into its left eye socket.

Chula lashed out with her blades, spinning and slashing, and lopped the heads off any husks who got too close.

Valeria dropped her rifle and pulled a knife from her belt. She stepped in front of a husk, sliced it open from crotch to neck, and moved on to the next as it fell. Another husk swiped at her, and she dodged, spun, and hilted her blade in the side of its head. She braced her foot against its shoulder and pushed it off her blade before looking around for another target.

Quint fired a neural-shock charge from his Omni-Tool into a nearby husk and it collapsed. Behind him, Weyland used his Tool to overload the synthetic components of three more husks, leaving them in a smoldering heap on the ground.

Chula raised her swords and turned around, looking for more husks.

The air was suddenly silent.

She looked around slowly and put her swords away. None of the husks were still vertical.

Magnum kneeled beside one of the smaller husks, scanned it, and cursed under her breath. "Organs are all gone. Not even any brain left. It's all some kind of circuitry." She sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

To her right, one of the husks stirred, recovering from Quint's neural shock. It sat up and hissed.

Magnum raised her huge rifle with her right hand and shot the husk between its eye sockets without looking at it. She kept her eyes on the small one directly in front of her.

Chula scanned the rest of the husks to be sure they were ... dead, inoperative, neutralized-whatever the hell the proper term was. Once she found no signs of "life" among them, she walked over to Magnum and touched her shoulder.

"You okay?"

"Not really. Not after seeing _this_." Magnum patted Chula's hand, stood, and turned in the direction Valeria had pointed out a moment ago.

Valeria took a deep breath, glanced at the others, and picked up her rifle. "Once Bailey's son is safe, we can try to find out exactly what happened here. Or at least find out who these people were. Most of them probably have family who will want to know what happened to them." She put her hand on Bailey's shoulder and nodded at the mountains. "But first we've got a job to do."


	19. Chapter 19

"Excuse me! Do you have a moment?"

Dakka finished putting her armor on without looking up, assuming the woman had called out to someone else in the marketplace outside C-Sec headquarters.

"Excuse me?" The voice was suddenly closer, directly behind Dakka, and sounded like it had been fired in her direction.

She locked her gauntlets in place and turned to find a slim, wide-eyed human with short dark hair, dark pants and shirt with a cleavage window, and a camera hovering above her left shoulder.

"Something I can do for you?"

"Emily Wong, Future Content Corporation. Can you spare a few minutes for an interview?"

"Uh. " _A reporter wants to talk to me? Weird. Oh, well. I've got nothing else to do until the _Sulaco_ comes back from Chasca._ She shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? I was about to go have lunch. Wanna join me?"

"Sure." Emily grinned and nodded at an aircar parked across from C-Sec. "I know a good place, in fact."

"Works for me." Dakka walked with her to the car and got in. "So, what's on your mind?"

Emily tapped a destination on the navigation screen and moved the floater camera over to the windshield. Once it was in position, one of its lenses locked onto Dakka and another pointed at Emily. She smiled.

"Well, word of a particularly interesting confrontation in C-Sec headquarters reached me and I just _had_ to look into it before any of my rivals beat me to it."

"Ah. And what was so interesting about this confrontation?" Dakka held in a chuckle.

"Well, witnesses described a detachment of Eclipse mercs storming into Citadel Security and holding the officers at gunpoint." Emily grinned again. "Followed moments later by a naked krogan female pushing through the mercs and then negotiating peacefully with their leader. This story has several unique angles."

Dakka shrugged again and smirked. "I suspect the cameras in C-Sec Headquarters had the best angles of all."

Emily snickered. "I bet. I'll have to see if I can get an excerpt from their record of the event. Or at least a few still images." She pointed out the windshield. "The restaurant is right over there."

"Okay." Dakka leaned over for a glance at the skyscrapers jutting up from Zakera Ward's ground floor. The aircar was still rising toward one of them, the rooftop high above the Citadel's atmosphere envelope. "The food's good, eh?"

"It's _amazing_." Emily smiled. "The head chef is an old vorcha, believe it or not."

"Seriously?" Dakka stared at her. "The only vorcha I've ever met were mercs, pirates, and other criminal thugs."

"I think this guy has done his share of that kind of stuff, but finally got tired of it." Emily shook her head and sighed. "It's really sad, actually; vorcha only live about twenty years, average, and this guy decided at the last minute to try to become a better person. He's spending his final months learning to cook." She smiled as the car descended toward a circular landing pad, but it was tinged with sadness. "Luckily for his customers, he's a fast learner. By now, the meals he prepares are works of _art_."

"Awesome. I'm eager to try some, then." Dakka rubbed her hands together as the aircar touched down and a dome extended from the groove around the landing pad. It came up on her right and descended to her left, slotting into the groove and locking down.

Several seconds passed and a green light on the car's control panel blinked, indicating the dome was pressurized. Dakka and Emily got out and walked to the rear of the car, where a rectangular section of the floor opened up, revealing a spiral staircase. Emily waved a hand at the stairs.

"After you."

Dakka smiled and took the stairs into a foyer. Emily stepped around her, followed by her hovering camera, stopped at the front desk, and held her ID up to the man behind it.

"Ah, Ms. Wong." The guy smiled, took a pair of tablets from under the counter, and handed them to Emily. "Your usual table is ready and waiting for you."

"Thank you." She smiled and led Dakka across the dining room to a table in the corner. Beside it, a bay window overlooked the length of Zakera Ward. The blue glow from the Serpent Nebula washed faintly over the buildings below, nearly drowned out by holographic signs and lights from thousands of windows.

They sat and selected a few items from the menus on their tablets, placed the tablets on the table, and waited for the food to arrive.

"So," Emily said, "while we're waiting, shall we get started?"

"Sure." Dakka leaned forward, rested her arms on the table, and grinned. "Fire away."

#

"Well, here's the obvious question," Lia said as they sat on the park bench. "Do your parents know what you're doing? I can't imagine they'd approve."

"I kept it hidden for as long as I could, but they found out eventually." Trent shrugged and chuckled. "I've never seen anyone so furious before _or_ since. Until they found out how much money I was making."

"How much, if I may ask?"

"More than both of my parents combined."

"Seriously?"

"Yep. And that's while being pretty selective about the clients I take on, and having only a small handful who come back for more sessions. And like I said earlier, it's kind of a niche market to begin with. That certainly made my parents stop and think." He leaned back, stretched his legs out, crossed his ankles, and laced his fingers together behind his head.

"So, they approved once they saw how many credits you were bringing in?"

"No, they still don't, really. But I finally convinced them that this is what I want. The money helps, of course." He grinned. "I'm saving up most of it, investing some of it here and there. If it all works out the way I'm hoping, I'll be able to retire before I'm twenty-five. I know I won't be able to do this forever, and I don't think I'd want to. Sex should never be 'just a job.'"

"I thought that's what this was, though?"

"Depends on the client. Some of them just want someone to talk to or hang out with for a weekend. Some of them, I guess, want the illusion of a relationship for a few days, and we actually go on dates-dinner and movies and dancing and all that. There are some who are lonely and for whatever reason they don't have anyone else to turn to, so they go looking for an escort. And sometimes I'll have a client who just wants to sit and cuddle while watching a sunset."

"Hmm. That _does_ sound kind of appealing. As a career, I mean."

"Yeah, it's pretty nice, most of the time. Except when that asari girl I mentioned earlier tries to poach my clients. That little _shit_." He laughed. "Thing is, the way this worked out would never happen again in a billion years. I just happened to meet a few women who were interested in what I offer, and I guess word got around and more gradually started showing up. I've got a few regulars, and after a while I was able to stop hanging out on the street corner and start booking appointments instead." He smiled and gazed up into the sky. "There are clients who just want sex, of course, which is _always_ wonderful. But I enjoy the 'just hanging out and talking' ones every bit as much."

"So, you're not being exploited?"

"I don't think so." He shrugged. "I'm getting more than I could ever have hoped for. If I hadn't stumbled onto that scene a couple years ago, I'd still be just a kid with no money and no future, sitting in my room and masturbating feverishly while hoping my parents don't catch me."

_Heh. I've been having a lot of bizarre conversations lately, but I think this one's the capper._ "When we first met, you said there were things you wouldn't do. 'Within reasonable parameters,' or something like that. So, do you have to turn down a lot of clients because they want something you're not comfortable with?"

"It doesn't happen as much now that I have an established client base, but I still get new ones who make me a little uncomfortable. There was one guy who paid me to fuck his wife while he watched. He promised not to do anything but sit there and watch, so I went along with it, but it left me feeling a little icky afterward. I haven't done that again. His wife still pays for her own sessions whenever we're in the same place at the same time, but luckily her husband opted out of it. If she wanted to do it behind his back, that's another thing I won't do, but he's already okayed it." Trent shrugged. "Maybe he's got his own thing going on, as well."

"Huh." Lia shook her head slowly. "I know a lot of people are screwed-up, but I still have the capacity to be surprised when it reaches a whole new level."

"This barely scratches the surface. I try not to judge others, I really do, but with some people, you can't avoid it." Trent took a deep breath and blew it out through his closed mouth, causing his lips to flap. "People who are into things like scat-_nope_. I wouldn't even know who to refer them to, so I just wish them luck and back away slowly."

Lia burst out laughing. "I'm just now starting to realize you must get some absolutely _bizarre_ requests."

"Like I said, not as often now, but back when I was on that street corner, oh hell yeah. I've had some real humdingers. There was one woman who wanted to do me with a strap-on. _No_, thank you. And every now and then there's a teenage girl who wants me to take her virginity. That's one I'm always really careful about. For some people, that kind of thing isn't a big deal at all, but for others, it can be emotionally traumatic."

"I can certainly think of worse ways to lose one's virginity. Though mine was more of a physical trauma than emotional-nearly dying from anaphylactic shock and a whole range of other illnesses brought on by that one little act."

"Yeah. That chirality thing is bad enough, but with your immune system issues added to it? That must make life, well, _hard_. Harder than it'd be for anyone else, I mean."

Lia shrugged. "We're so used to being stuck in these suits, we don't even think about it most of the time. Like, when I had to do it with that guy so he'd take me to Illium, simply feeling the air on my bare skin was all kinds of weird." She sighed. "But that was only the beginning. Just getting his sweat on my skin caused a reaction. I ended up with a rash over most of my body, and after I put my suit back on, every movement chafed for a few days. I managed to get some ointment for it, and it cleared up a day or two before IndentuTech agreed to take me on."

"It's disgusting that someone would put you through that. If it were me, I simply would've given you a lift. It's not like it would've taken him that far out of his way. Just jump through a few mass relays and you're there. It would've only added a few hours to his transit time. A day at the most."

"It's possible he didn't know it'd screw me up that badly. But like I said a while ago, he most likely didn't care." Lia looked around the park again and noticed the light had dimmed. _The station must be entering its night cycle._ She turned back to Trent and laughed softly. "Some passengers we took on recently are a human and a turian. This conversation we're having reminded me of them. They're porn stars, and they're married. I'm suddenly wondering how they deal with the chirality problem."

"Wait-that sounds like Valeria Terakkis and Irving Kostmeyer."

"Yes, it's them."

"You know them?" Trent sat up straight and grinned. "That's _awesome_! I'm a big fan of theirs."

"Seems like everyone is, though I hadn't heard of them until one of my new crewmates mentioned them in a conversation."

"Yeah, they're pretty popular. I think it's the obvious passion in their vids and photo shoots. Because they love each other and are always having fun, it brings their work to a whole other level. I think a lot of people respond to that. I certainly do, at least." He shrugged. "They've mentioned the chirality issue in a few of their interviews. Each of them has to take medication to prevent severe allergic reactions to each other's bodily fluids." He whistled softly and shook his head. "You _know_ someone's in love when simply kissing could put them in the hospital, yet they do it anyway. Not that turian mouths are built for kissing, but those two sure make it look perfectly natural."

"Hmm. Interesting. I hadn't really thought of it that way, but yeah. That's some serious dedication to each other."

"Yeah. Like I said, If you ever watch any of their vids, you'll see it in their eyes and the way they touch each other. There's a tenderness you don't see with most porn stars. For most of 'em, it's all about the mechanics of it all-just going through the motions and mugging for the camera. It's much better when there's an emotional connection between them."

"Hmm. Yeah, I can see that." Lia nodded.

Trent grinned. "Of course, it's even better when they make a vid that features full sensory stimulation."

"Hah. I imagine it would be."

The lights continued dimming and the sky faded to black. Lia glanced around. The Wards were more visible now, as was the Presidium ring off to the right, to which each Ward connected. Tiny lights from buildings, street lamps, and vehicles all along each arm glittered like jewels and metallic dust caught in a shaft of moonlight. But the most spectacular sight was the blue Serpent Nebula.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Trent turned to stare at the nebula. "The glow is actually light from the Citadel reflecting off all the thick gas and dust."

Lia nodded slowly. "The last time I was here, when I was stranded, I'd sometimes leave the shelter in the middle of the night, find a place with a good view of the sky, sit there and watch for a few hours. Took a while to find a place where I wouldn't be discovered and have C-Sec threaten to arrest me if I didn't leave. But I managed to find a couple of places that weren't owned by anyone, or where I was out of sight." She sighed. "That view is the only good memory I have of the Citadel from that time."

"Well, I hope your current visit leaves you with many more pleasant memories."

"I think I might be off to a pretty good start. I've had a lot of bad stuff to deal with in the last few hours, but the good is beginning to balance it out."

"I'm glad to hear that." He smiled and looked back out at the nebula. "I'd heard only the basics about this place, so none of that prepared me for what it was actually like. I've only been here a few times before, just for a few days each time, so this is all pretty new to me. Like, I knew the Citadel is surrounded by a nebula, but I had no idea how beautiful it is. Also had no idea that it works as an additional security measure-the gas and dust are so thick, it's a hazard for ships to navigate. The only access points are the mass relays surrounding the Citadel, with the nebula out past them, cutting the Citadel off from the rest of the galaxy."

"Everyone here would be in serious trouble if all the relays malfunctioned at the same time." Lia almost shuddered. _Why do I even think up scenarios like this?_

"Yeah, but there are dozens of them, so it's extremely unlikely to happen."

"Good point." _I need a distraction, before my brain conjures up something even more frightening._ She glanced over her shoulder and found him turned sideways on the bench just as she had, facing the same direction, smiling and gazing up at the soft blue cloud. "So ... um ... when one of your clients wants to ... well ... simulate a relationship, what exactly do you do?"

"That depends on the client and how far she wants it to go. Usually, it involves simply being affectionate, unless she asks me to turn it up a notch." He smiled. "Looking for a demonstration?"

"Well, uh, I suppose I could do with some cuddling. After that ... well, um, we'll see."

"Okay. Just remember, if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable, let me know and I'll stop." He touched her shoulder and nudged gently. "Lean back a little."

She did as he asked, and found her back resting against his chest. He put his left arm around her waist, slid his right hand under hers and closed his fingers around it, keeping his touch soft.

She stared down at their hands. _Oh, that's just weird. Humans have too many fingers. Well, so do asari and batarians. Five on them, three on everyone else. Why is that, I wonder? Why isn't there more variation? And ... oh, hell, my brain is running away with itself._

Trent rested his chin on her shoulder and tilted his head ever so slightly, brushing the side of his head against her helmet, as if nuzzling her.

Her breathing slowed and a little more tension drained from her body.

_Okay, this is ... this is kind of nice, actually. Maybe I can get used to the fingers thing. Valeria and Dakka certainly don't seem to mind it at all._

She found herself relaxing a little more, moment by moment, and eventually realized she'd tilted her head to the side, resting it against Trent's. She smiled and closed her hand gently around his, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. For the first time in what seemed like forever, she found herself at peace.

_I feel like I can sit here like this all night._ She moved her left hand down slowly and let it rest on his. _What the hell. Maybe I will._

#

"You okay?" Chula nudged Quint's shoulder as the team hiked up the narrow trail into the mountains.

He shrugged. "What we saw back at the base was bad enough. But for some reason, I can't stop thinking about that krogan. He probably knew he was dying, but he didn't appear to give it any thought." He sighed. "Maybe I'm just focusing on him to avoid thinking about everything else."

"It's because of the kids," Valeria said. "He was more upset about what happened to the kids than he was about his own death. Thanks to the genophage, only one krogan birth in a thousand survives. The rest are stillborn. It's a raw nerve for almost all of them, but seeing children harmed hits some of them pretty hard." She glanced over her shoulder again. "I'm a little surprised that Dakka's such a big fan of Irv and myself, since my people are the ones who dropped the genophage on her people."

"She sees things a bit differently than most of her people." Quint managed a soft, brief laugh. "She might even be able to understand why it was done; she's certainly disgusted with her own species, after the things she saw before she left Tuchanka. And she's well aware of how fast they reproduced before the genophage."

"To be fair, the genophage happened centuries before she was born. The krogan were warlike back then, but what we did to them only made them worse." Valeria sighed. "I can understand being angry with one's own people, though; there are times when I'm not too thrilled with the Hierarchy. I'm just thankful I hadn't yet been born when the genophage was approved, or I might've gone through life believing it was completely justified."

"The salarians are the ones who cooked up the genophage in the first place, and Dakka doesn't hate them, either." Quint shrugged. "I've seen plenty of krogan and salarians working together, so by this point they probably see it as ancient history."

"For them, it's as recent as the First Contact War is to you and me. The difference is, it's causing their numbers to dwindle to the point where their species is on the path to extinction, and they all know it." Valeria shook her head slowly. "I wish there had been a better way to handle that whole mess."

"We're almost there," Magnum said softly, and everyone fell silent. Chula joined Magnum up front and found a narrow bridge running from this mountain to another. At the far end of the bridge, a turian in Blue Suns armor leaned against the rail and stared off to the left.

"Huh," Valeria muttered. "He's upset. Not angry, more like ... resigned. I can tell from his body language-kind of slouching, head hanging slightly, that sort of thing. He doesn't think he'll survive."

"He and the others must've run into those husks, then." Chula crept up to the end of the bridge, stretched out on the ground, and poked her head over the cliff edge. The bridge's underside had a support structure, including a series of pipes that looked just the right size for what she had in mind. "I'll go easy on him." She took her hat off and held it out. "Someone want to hold onto that for me?"

Weyland walked over to her and accepted the hat.

"Thanks. See you on the other mountain." Chula grabbed one of the pipes, wrapped her legs around it, and pulled herself toward the far end. As she scooted up to the guard's position, a batarian-sounding voice came from his comlink.

"Any more activity out there?"

"Not since the shooting we heard a while ago. Whoever they were, they're probably dead already."

"That's the second time today. If their ships are still intact in the morning, we can use one of them to get off this damned rock."

_If the ships are still intact? Oh, that's not good._ Chula slid a little closer to the turian's voice. _Damned good thing we've got more shuttles on the _Sulaco_._

"I'd prefer to head out immediately," the turian said.

"So would I, but night will fall before we get anywhere near their landing site. I've already lost half my team to those things. I'm not risking anyone else. We'll go in the morning."

"Understood." The guard sighed.

Chula eased her left hand up to the lowest rail, clamped on, and pulled herself up far enough for a quick look around. The guard was facing away from her, gazing in the general direction of the late-afternoon sun.

_Ah. Just within reach._ She pulled herself up to the top rail, held on with her left hand, and reached for the guard with her right. She grabbed the back of his collar and yanked.

"_Huaak!_" He teetered over the edge, his lower back balancing on the rail.

"Drop your guns," Chula hissed. He hesitated, and she gave him a small tug, pulling him a few centimeters closer to a plunge to the ground hundreds of meters below.

He released his assault rifle and it crashed into the distant rocks.

"The rest of 'em, too." Chula had to fight down the urge to laugh as the guard groaned and dropped two pistols and an assortment of knives. "Okay. You promise to play nice?"

"Yes!" He kept his hands in sight, held his breath, and trembled.

She shoved him forward. He staggered to the other rail, clung to it, and sucked in deep, gasping breaths. Chula hopped over the rail and plucked her rifle from her back. She scanned the area, found no one else nearby, and opened a channel to the rest of her team. "It's clear."

#

"I'm surprised you survived." The turian had regained his composure by the time Valeria led the rest of the team across the bridge and everyone marched toward the cave in which the Blue Suns had holed up. "Those things got to our ship before we could. They pretty much tore it apart. We managed to pull an emergency shelter and a few supplies from the wreckage and found this cave near the top of the mountain. The few of us that were left settled in and waited to die. If you landed your ship anywhere near here, it's probably scrap by now."

_Terrific._ Valeria established a link from her Omni-Tool to the shuttle's systems. Her eyes flicked over the readings and she winced. "Great. The shuttle's systems are disabled."

"Damn." Chula sighed. "I thought we'd killed all those things. Must've missed a few."

"Either that," Valeria said, "or the corpses of some of the Blue Suns were turned into husks before we reached the base."

"Oh, fuck." Quint grimaced. "Thanks for putting that idea in my head."

"The same probably happened to the mercs who landed shortly before you arrived." The guard hung his head. "Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

"Don't assume we had only one ship." Valeria opened a comm channel to the _Sulaco_. "Nana, you there?"

Several seconds passed before Natalie answered. "Right here, Val."

"Think you can remember how to pilot a shuttle? The one we came in is a no-go."

"You bet. Give me about half an hour for prep and transit time."

"Will do. Thanks, Nana."

"Any time. Hey, did you find Bailey's son? Is he okay?"

"Yep. That's the first thing we asked the guard we captured. He's leading us to Scott now."

"Glad to hear it. Okay, Val, see you in thirty." Natalie signed off and Valeria let out a relieved sigh.

"Right around that curve." The guard pointed at the bend in the sloping path ahead. "We set up the shelter inside the cave."

"My son _really_ hasn't been harmed?" Bailey scowled at the turian and curled his lip.

"Not at all. He's a good kid. A real charmer." He chuckled. "The captain's daughter took a liking to him immediately." He glanced at Bailey and added, "It must run in his mother's side of the family."

A smirk tugged at Bailey's mouth, but he suppressed it.

They followed the turian around the curve and found the mouth of a huge cave. Bailey charged ahead and Valeria caught up with him.

The turian activated his comlink. "Sir, hold your fire! The man running toward the cave is Scott's father."

"Understood."

A batarian in heavy armor emerged from the cave, holding an assault rifle by its barrel and raising his free hand. The others hurried to join Valeria and Bailey. The merc leader handed his rifle to Bailey.

"Where's my son?" Bailey snapped.

"In the shelter. Are you able to get us off this planet?"

"There's a shuttle on the way." Valeria strode into the cave, glanced around, found the shelter and led Bailey toward it. "Has Scott been harmed?"

"No. The exact opposite, in fact."

"What the hell does that mean?" Bailey sprinted ahead of Valeria and grabbed the shelter's door handle.

"Wait! You may not want to see-"

Bailey yanked the door open and charged through. He reappeared two seconds later, grimacing and covering his eyes with his free hand.

"Fuck's sake," he growled.

"What?" Valeria stared at him and turned to the open door. "What have they done to him?" She took a step toward the shelter, but Bailey held his hand up.

"Give 'em a minute to put their clothes back on."

She turned to stare at him again. "_Oh_. I see."

"I wish _I_ hadn't." Bailey holstered his gun and rubbed both hands over his face. "I'd gouge my eyes out, but it's already too late."

"Hah." The merc captain sneered at him. "Imagine how _I_ must feel."

"You don't seem too upset about it."

"Normally I'd be _very_ much against it. But I thought we were going to die here. I figured, why not let the kids find whatever comfort they can, in whatever way they can, because in a few days it won't matter."

"Dad?"

Everyone turned to find a teenager with shoulder-length black hair emerging from the shelter and slipping a T-shirt over his head. Behind him appeared a female batarian about the same age, lifting a chest plate up to attach to her armor.

Quint blinked and shook his head. "I ... okay, I've never run into a batarian female before. I had no idea they have six ... uh ... uh ... "

The female rolled her four eyes. "_Tits_. Saying it won't cause the sky to fall, or anything of the sort."

"Uh ... right."

"Some have four," the turian said, "some have six. Uh, not that I'd know from any direct experience."

"Uh-huh," the captain said. "Sure."

Bailey sighed, turned back to Scott, and embraced him. "When we found out what happened to the Cerberus personnel-"

"Yeah. A bunch of us tried to run when those things started swarming the base." Scott shivered. "Only eight of us got away."

"Well, when the shuttle arrives, it'll take you to our ship in orbit." Valeria glanced at the mouth of the cave. "I'll head back to the base and see if I can get any information out of the computers. If nothing else, I want to find out who those people were so I can notify their families. Same with the mercs who were killed just before we arrived."

"I'll go with you," Chula said. "It'll be safer with two of us to watch each other's backs."

Valeria nodded. "Thanks."

The captain nodded at his daughter. "When the shuttle arrives, even if you leave us here, all I ask is that you take Garusha to safety."

Scott clasped her hand and arched an eyebrow at Bailey. "I'm not leaving her behind."

Bailey facepalmed, then shrugged. "Fine, Sixpack can come with us, if it's okay with the rest of the crew."

"There is enough room on the _Sulaco_ for the rest of your team," Weyland said to the Blue Suns captain. "We have no objection to bringing you with us."

The batarian flicked a half surprised, half confused glance at the geth unit, then sighed. "Thank you. The other four are on the opposite side of the mountain, making sure none of those monstrosities sneak up on us from behind." He pointed a thumb over his shoulder.

Valeria nodded again. "When we're finished here, we're heading back to the Citadel. You can find your own way from there."

"We would be grateful."

"The shuttle will be here in a few minutes. You'll have an hour or two to relax on the _Sulaco_ while we're checking out the base."

"Sounds splendid." The turian slumped against the wall and sighed. "As you might guess, we haven't exactly been resting well, these last few days."

Valeria nodded once more, turned to Chula, and waved a hand at the cave entrance. "Shall we get a head start?"

"Sure. I'm ready to do a little research."

Valeria turned around to meet everyone else's gazes. "Alright, we're heading out. We'll contact you when we're ready to return to the _Sulaco_. See you soon."

She walked out of the cave and led Chula back to the bridge, dreading whatever they might find in the Cerberus base.


	20. Chapter 20

"Hah! This looks intriguing!" Dakka popped another crab puff into her mouth and held her menu tablet out to Emily. "Zaeed's Goddamn Good Chocolate Chip Cookies. Think I'll get a batch to-go." She laughed and added them to her order.

"They're pretty good, alright." Emily grinned and took a bite of her crab salad. "So, you were standing there, naked, with C-Sec agents on one side and Eclipse mercenaries on the other, pointing guns at each other ... ?"

"Yep, there I was, right in between them, wearing only my Omni-Tool on my wrist." Dakka shrugged. "I'd just gotten out of surgery a few minutes before my captain told me what was going down. All my armor and weapons were being held in C-Sec, and my off-duty clothes are on my ship, which is probably still orbiting Chasca. I could've gone there in that backward gown thingy they make patients wear, but that would've made it obvious that I was injured. So I just ran there in my birthday suit."

"That had to be quite a sight. I suspect it was a good tactical move simply because it had to distract everyone so completely."

"It seemed to work out that way. Instead of gearing up to shoot each other, a lot of 'em were suddenly staring at me and muttering, 'What the hell is _this_?'"

"I would imagine so. I simply _must_ get a clip of it from a nearby security camera." Emily laughed. "I have to admit, I'm surprised you didn't try to fight them off. I mean, you're a krogan, you're a merc, you probably enjoy fighting, so ..."

"It crossed my mind, sure, but then I saw how outnumbered the C-Sec guys were. I'll admit to being young and a little crazy, but I'm not stupid. Those girls would've blasted all of us into chunks of wet meat. If it were just me, a few months ago, I might've tried it anyway, but the C-Sec people were just doing their jobs and they have families waiting for them to come home at the end of every shift." Dakka sighed. "And now that I've got someone who cares about me, I have plenty of reasons to be a little more cautious."

She ate another crab puff, waved at the camera hovering over Emily's shoulder, and grinned.

"Hey, Quentin!"

Emily smiled and finished her salad. "So, you decided to reason with the mercs instead?"

"Yeah. I can't reveal any details because this is part of an ongoing investigation, but I can say the leader of the mercs wanted to get at a suspect C-Sec has in custody. The guy killed her husband, and she was willing to tear through anyone in her path to get to him. I let her in on a few of the particulars of the investigation-there's a bigger picture she wasn't aware of before. I asked her to give the court a chance to convict this guy for all the things he's done. She'd calmed down enough by that point that she could be reasoned with." Dakka shrugged again. "She agreed to leave peacefully and give justice a chance."

"Well, when the investigation is finished and you're able to talk about it in more detail, I hope you'll contact me. I'd love to do a follow-up interview with the Naked Negotiator." Emily fired off a lopsided grin and Dakka burst out laughing.

"Now I'll be waiting for _Fornax_ to pick that up and run with it after this airs." Dakka giggled and picked up her glass of cola. It was another human thing she'd taken a liking to in recent years. She loved the _fizz_. "Anything else you want to know?"

"Well, I'm curious about quite a few things. You work with a small crew of mercs, but you're not with any of the three big merc corporations?"

"Right, we're independent. Just one little ship and a small crew, though it's grown a bit recently. We take on the kinds of jobs that only require a small team. We're okay with letting the huge merc corporations fight the all-out wars."

"I'd love to hear more about that, especially since earlier you mentioned working with a quarian and a couple of synthetics."

"We've got a couple humans, a pair of quarians, and a turian has just joined us today." Dakka grinned. "And those synthetics are actually geth. This might surprise a lot of people, but the geth are quite reasonable and friendly."

"Okay, my curiosity is definitely piqued." Emily grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. "Another subject I'd like to touch on is the relationship you mentioned. Since his name is Quentin, I assume he's human?"

"He is."

"That's something you don't see often. Actually, I've never heard of it happening at all-a human and a krogan, I mean. So I'd _love_ to hear more about it."

Dakka chuckled. _Oh, that part of the conversation ought to be interesting._

#

"You okay, Valeria?" Chula had turned to find her staring at the bodies of the husks and the mercs as she passed slowly by them.

"Not really." Valeria sighed. "I'm half expecting them to bolt upright and attack us again."

_Ugh._ Chula shivered. _Did _not _need that thought in my head._

Val sighed again and continued on to the base's entrance. "As bad as this is, what I'm _really_ dreading is informing their families of how they died. How do you explain something like _this_?"

"I wish-" Chula shook her head. "I almost said I wish I knew, but maybe I'm better off not knowing."

"You'll get no argument from me." Valeria hacked the lock. "When I was a child, I craved adventure. Now I know how lucky most civilians are, working what they consider boring jobs and then going home to their families, never having to see things like this." She held her rifle ready in her right hand and reached out to open the door with her left.

Chula raised her pistols and waited for Valeria's palm to touch the hard-light panel that would slide the door open.

The roar of shuttle engines approached from behind. She and Valeria looked over their shoulders and found General Kurakova's shuttle passing overhead. It slowed and hovered long enough for the side door to open and two shapes to appear-Weyland and Valeria's husband.

The geth stepped out the door, plummeted nearly one hundred meters to the ground, and came down in a three-point landing. He rose to his feet and walked toward the two females without showing any sign of damage from the fall.

Up in the shuttle, Irving held his hand up. Valeria waved back and opened a comm channel.

"Hey, Irv."

"I just had to see you. Had to be sure you're okay."

"Well, _physically_ I'm good. But when we get back to the _Sulaco_, I'm gonna need a hug."

"You've got it, honey. Be safe."

"We will. See you soon."

"I hope so. I love you." He blew her a kiss.

"I love you, too." She mimicked his gesture and waved again as the shuttle resumed its course over the mountaintops.

"Don't hang around there too long," Kurakova said. "I want my favorite granddaughter-in-law back ASAP."

"I'll do my best, Nana. We'll see you soon."

They signed off and Valeria turned back to the door. She took a deep breath, sighed, and touched the control. The door slid open and revealed a long corridor with flickering light panels in the ceiling. Many of the panels had already gone dark, and Chula guessed the rest wouldn't last much longer.

She and Weyland followed Val through another door and around a corner-and both females stopped abruptly.

The floor, walls, and ceiling directly ahead were splattered with blood.

"The husks got in here, alright." Chula shivered again. "I wonder if they killed these poor people before converting their bodies, or just dragged them out, kicking and screaming, to the Dragon's Teeth."

"Possibly both." Valeria took a moment to pull herself together and then forged ahead, going out of her way to avoid stepping on any of the blood stains. "I should've thought to ask you earlier-does the _Sulaco_ have any ordinance aboard? I strongly recommend destroying those damned spikes before they harm anyone else."

"There are no ship-mounted weapons on the _Sulaco_," Weyland said. "It is a civilian ship."

"The biggest gun we have is Dakka's rotary cannon," Chula added. "As for explosives, we've got some grenades. That's about it."

"We recommend attempting to purchase an explosive device large enough to eliminate the Reaper devices." Weyland turned from Chula to Valeria and added, "We advise one of you make the attempt, as organics will likely become alarmed if a synthetic attempts to purchase a weapon of mass destruction."

"Good thinking." Chula smiled. "I'd also suggest going through a black-market dealer in a place like Omega. If we try to make a legitimate deal, we'll have to explain what it's for, and once someone high enough in the chain of command hears about it, they might try to study the Dragon's Teeth rather than destroy them."

"Too true. That very thing has happened several times already." Val sighed again. "When I was reinstated, one of the reports I gained access to was from the team on the SSV _Normandy_. A few months ago, they investigated a derelict Reaper, one that had been taken out by an enormous mass accelerator weapon. A Cerberus science team had already been there for a while, and contact with them was lost before the _Normandy_ arrived. You can probably guess what happened to them."

"Indoctrinated and later turned into husks, I assume?"

"Exactly."

Chula shook her head. "That kind of thing happens again and again. People never learn."

"Yeah. Though I guess one could argue that they didn't know what they were getting into. Didn't know how dangerous those things are until it was too late. But I wish research teams would take more precautions."

"If Reaper technology is to be studied," Weyland said, "it should be done via remote-piloted mech units equipped with self-destruct devices to prevent organics from being indoctrinated or otherwise harmed. If the mech units are taken over by the technology being studied, the destruct protocol can eliminate the threat. However, as we now have an understanding of the threat posed by Reaper artifacts, we advise destruction rather than study."

"So do I." Valeria nodded and turned another corner. "The control center should be up ahead. We'll download the personnel files and get the hell off this planet."

Chula nodded and hurried after her. _I'll definitely be relieved to get this over with._

#

"Sidonis!" Lia barely restrained herself from dancing over to his chair in Huerta Memorial's waiting area. She waved when he looked up at her.

"Well, you certainly appear to be feeling better. I assume the 'recreational activity' Dakka arranged has something to do with it?"

"It certainly does." Lia had practically floated here from that park bench. She plopped onto the lounge chair beside his, took in a deep breath, and let it rush out.

"Ah. You got laid, as the humans phrase it."

"Not exactly. Mostly, we just talked. Asked each other questions and then answered them. Then we sat on a bench in a park, and he just held me in his arms while we took in the view of the Serpent Nebula."

"That must've been relaxing. Probably just what you needed."

"It was." She grinned at a particular memory. "It did go a _bit_ farther than that. Without going into too much detail ... well, between my suit's neuro-stim system and his hands, I got what humans call a 'happy ending.' After that, I eventually fell asleep. Woke up a short while ago, and I can't remember ever feeling so relaxed before. I'm ready to face whatever today throws at me!"

"Glad to hear that." Sidonis chuckled. "I hope you got his contact information. You never know when you might need another happy ending."

"Oh, I did." She laughed softly, took a deep breath, and released a contented sigh. "So, any word on how Kenn's doing?"

"I spoke with one of the surgeons a few minutes ago. He has a lot of healing to do, but he's out of danger. The doctor said he should be back on his feet in a week or two, though of course he'll need to take it easy for a while afterward."

"Glad to know he pulled through." Lia cocked her head. "How did you manage that, anyway? Last night, no one would say a word to us about it."

"I contacted Kenn's family back in the Migrant Fleet. They had just been notified of his condition, so they were able to verify that I was being straight with them by asking some questions. They told the hospital staff to give me any information I ask for."

"_Well_, you're a handy guy to have around."

Sidonis shrugged and looked at the floor. "I guess his family was grateful for my attempt to fight off the thugs who were pounding on him. I made sure they were aware of you and your crew saving both our lives."

"I'm just glad we were in the right place when you needed help." Lia glanced at the ER door at the far end of the waiting room. "I assume it'll be a while before he can have visitors?"

"Yes. His parents and siblings are on the way; they might be able to see him sometime after they arrive."

"I guess there's not much else we can do, then." She waved a hand at one of the kiosks in the center of the room. "You feel like having breakfast? I can have something delivered so we can be here to keep an eye on Kenn."

"Sounds good. We can get to a nearby picnic area through that door." Sidonis nodded over his shoulder. "It's not far from Kenn's room, so we'll see anyone who shouldn't be there."

"Good. Given the kind of damage we did when we blew out of there with you two, I wouldn't be surprised if the surviving thugs came looking for some payback."

"I was worried about the same thing. I notified C-Sec and they said they'd assign some officers."

_Hmm. After my own little experience with C-Sec a few months ago, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence._ Lia remained silent on the matter and merely nodded and walked over to the kiosk.

"Good to know. Well, let's see what's on the menu, shall we?"

#

"Damn." Valeria closed the last file, copied it to her Omni-Tool, and slumped over, bracing her hands on the console. "_Damn_ it."

Chula put her hand on Valeria's shoulder. "We all knew we were going to see this."

Val nodded. "Doesn't make it any easier." She powered down the console, sighed, and trudged to the door. "I never expected to say this about a Cerberus team, but these people weren't doing anything wrong. Just pure research-projects that could've helped humanity without harming anyone else. And look what they got in return."

"I know. Come on. The sooner we can get away from here, the better off we'll both be."

Valeria nodded again and stepped into the corridor. "Whole families turned into those 'husk' things. _Children_." Weyland had copied all the research files they could find, so maybe this expedition wouldn't be all for nothing, but that wouldn't bring back all the lives lost so horribly here.

Anger rose up within her and her trudge became a stride. "I can't let this happen again. I'm not leaving until the Dragon's Teeth are destroyed."

"We don't have anything big enough to take them out."

"We've got the Omni-Tool upgrade I authorized before we left the Citadel." Valeria turned the next corner and Chula hurried to keep up.

"_Oh_, right! Omni-Blades. I forgot about that. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to get too close to those things, though."

"These sorts of risks are part of the job. Still, I'd like you to keep a good distance away from those devices, just in case." Valeria reached the outer door and strode through. "If anything goes wrong, I might need your help."

Weyland increased his pace until he'd passed her. "We will assist. There are no known cases of such technology affecting synthetics."

Valeria nodded. "I appreciate the help." She took a few more steps-and stopped suddenly. She stared at the clearing in front of the base.

The bodies of the independent mercs now looked partially synthetic, pieces of metal with glowing blue patterns having replaced sections of their arms and legs and even chests.

"Oh, shit," Chula whispered. She raised her arm and her Omni-Tool's golden interface appeared around it. She tapped a button and the Tool's mini-fabricator formed a glowing blade.

Valeria flash-forged her own Omni-Blade and crept forward. _This is exactly what I was afraid of. I should've taken a moment to burn the bodies._

Weyland extended his own blade and plucked a Tempest submachine gun from his hip.

Off to the right, a corpse that had once been human lurched upright with a chilling, whispery howl.

Valeria charged it and slashed her arm across its chest. Her blade split the husk in half effortlessly and its intense heat set the rest of the abomination ablaze.

The others began to stir and release gasping, whispery cries that made her shiver. She rushed over to the nearest one and lopped its head off. In the corner of her eye, Chula darted around, carving up the rest of the partial husks and leaving their remains burning, as did Weyland. Once both women and the geth had finished them off, Valeria sighed again and stormed off in the direction of the Dragon's Teeth.

"Let's hurry. For all we know, those things can turn any indigenous animals into husks, as well."

Chula shuddered. "Likelihood of sleeping without nightmares diminishing rapidly."

"No kidding." Valeria jogged toward the spot where they'd found the huge spikes on the way in. She slowed and walked around a large boulder-and the sight that greeted her made her stop abruptly.

_What?_

Marching straight toward the Dragon's Teeth, carrying an oblong device in her arms, was a young human. _Very_ young-thirteen, maybe fourteen. Her back was to Val and Chula, obscuring the object she was carrying. She wore cargo pants, boots, a sleeveless shirt, and gloves that appeared to be made of metal. Her muscles were so big, they couldn't be natural, and Valeria noticed additional ridges, as if thick cords or cables were running under the girl's skin.

Weyland stepped forward and raised a hand. "Do not approach those devices. They are extremely dangerous."

The girl didn't even twitch. She slowed, stopped, and tossed a casual glance over her shoulder, as if she'd been aware of their presence all along.

Her eyes appeared human, but a steady red glow came from within them.

One eye focused on Valeria and the other on Chula for a moment, each moving independently of the other. Her left eye then flicked toward Weyland.

_Cybernetic enhancements._ Valeria stared at the girl and her mandibles twitched as a chill rushed through her. _Extensive ones. Who the hell would do that to a child?_ A split-second later, the answer came to her. _Cerberus._

"I've dealt with these things before," the girl said. She remained absolutely still, her only movement a slight ruffling of her long, black hair caused by a gentle breeze.

_That's not a child's voice. Something made her grow up before she should have._ Valeria glanced at the Dragon's Teeth. _She said she's dealt with those before. Oh, fucking hell._

"You're a survivor, aren't you?" Chula pointed at the spikes. "You were on a colony, or something, and it was overrun by husks?"

The girl's lower lip quivered for an instant before she regained her composure. "It was. I lost my whole family. Since then, I've learned how to handle those things. And these." She turned back and resumed her course toward the Dragon's Teeth.

"That is a bomb." Weyland pointed at the device in the girl's arms.

"Nuke." She walked into the middle of the spikes and placed it on the ground.

Chula cocked her head. "How'd you get your hands on it?"

"I've got someone who keeps me supplied." She waved a hand at the spikes and then pointed at the burning remains of the husks. "This is what I do."

"What you do?" Valeria glanced at Chula. "Destroy Reaper technology?"

"Not exactly a career. More like a _purpose_." The girl tapped a code into a panel on top of the bomb and shrugged. "It's all I've got left in life."

Valeria shivered again.

"I picked up the base's distress signal, but didn't arrive in time to save anyone." The girl stood and strode back the way she'd come. "You three don't want to stick around. When I push the button, this whole area will be vaporized. I'll give you a lift to your ship."

Valeria and Chula exchanged another glance. Both of them shrugged and turned to Weyland. He mimicked their gesture and the trio followed the girl back to the base.

"You got a name?" Chula asked her.

"Of course." An Omni-Tool interface appeared around the girl's arm and she tapped several glowing icons. She didn't say anything else.

"I'm Valeria. This is Chula."

She turned to Valeria and raised an eyebrow. "Huh. The porn star. I thought I recognized you."

A ship's engines roared to life and the pitch changed as it approached. A few seconds later, a somewhat familiar ship appeared over the mountains and descended slowly toward them.

_That looks like the SSV _Normandy_. Only smaller. Much smaller. Not even as big as the _Sulaco_._ Val and the others backed up to the front of the base to give the ship room to land. It rotated to present its airlock to them, and Valeria flicked her eyes over the side, taking note of the _SR3_ and the Cerberus emblem on the hull.

"Ah, Cerberus are the ones keeping you supplied, eh?" Valeria nodded at the ship. "They built another one, I see." _After sinking so much money into bringing Commander Shepard back and building a new _Normandy_ twice as big as the original, it looks like they didn't have the budget left over to make any others that size._

The ship hovered several meters above them. The girl crouched and then sprang into the air, crossing the distance to the airlock and leaving Valeria's mouth hanging open. She landed inside the airlock, turned, and motioned for the trio to stand closer together.

They exchanged another glance and shrug.

"What the hell," Val muttered. "Faster than waiting for a shuttle." She stood beside Chula and Weyland, shoulders almost touching, and waited. If this turned out to be a setup, they could probably handle it.

A blue, biotic glow surrounded the girl's body and she pointed her arms toward them. Suddenly, Valeria's body tingled and she found herself surrounded by a biotic field. The ground fell out from under her and she glanced down and realized she and the others were being lifted slowly to the airlock. She let a breath rush out as they floated into the airlock. The glow faded and the hatch closed.

After the decontamination procedure finished, the inner doors slid aside and the girl strode into the corridor and turned to the left. Val and the others followed her into the cockpit, where the girl took the pilot's seat.

Weyland opened a comm channel. "_Sulaco_, we are returning."

"Okay," Quint answered. "I'll let General Kurakova know."

"Unnecessary. We have transportation."

"Trans ... huh? We're not detecting any other shuttles."

"It appears to be a stealth ship similar to the _Normandy_, but smaller."

"We'll fill you in once we're back onboard," Chula added. "Things got a little ... weird. Oh, and don't be alarmed by the explosion on the surface that's about to happen at any moment. It's the Dragon's Teeth being taken care of."

"Uh ... okay. Sure."

Valeria managed a brief chuckle. "It'll give us something to talk about on the way back to the Citadel. See you in a few minutes."


	21. Chapter 21

"Two more minutes." The girl tapped a control and a set of blast shields retracted, revealing the blackness of space outside the cockpit. She touched another glowing, holographic button, and the lights in the compartment dimmed until Chasca's night side was clearly visible off to the left.

The _Sulaco_ appeared as the girl's ship orbited around to the day side.

"Thanks for the lift," Chula said. She turned toward the girl, but those steadily glowing red eyes made her shiver and turn away again. "So ... are you planning on telling us your name?"

"Call me Ghost."

"Uh ... okay." Chula stared out at the rapidly approaching _Sulaco_. "I can't help being curious-you've got a ship built by Cerberus and your modifications were most likely done by the same bunch, and they're keeping you supplied, but your job is to destroy Reaper technology? I figured they'd be more interested in acquiring Reaper tech for their own purposes."

"Depends on which cell you're talking about," Ghost muttered.

Chula waited, but the girl remained silent. After a few more seconds, Valeria spoke.

"Cerberus is made up of independently-operating cells. The entire organization is run by a human who calls himself the Illusive Man. He's the only one who knows what each cell is doing." Valeria glanced over at Chula. "They've been on the Spectres' ladar for a long time. Long enough to know that each cell is kept in the dark as to what the others are up to, and that some of their operatives are fairly decent people."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Two in particular came to our attention recently, Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor. They served on the _Normandy_ SR2 since its launch, and once their mission was completed, they resigned from Cerberus and continued serving under Commander Shepard. So did the rest of the all-Cerberus crew. Shepard hasn't rejoined the Systems Alliance, but he and his entire crew are no longer affiliated with Cerberus, though I've heard that he's convinced the Illusive Man to continue providing intel and resources."

"Huh. I'd heard about Shepard ditching Cerberus, but I didn't know the whole crew stayed with him." Chula cocked her head at Valeria. "What else do you know about Cerberus?"

"It started as an Alliance black-ops division, but went rogue. We've only recently been able to run down the Illusive Man's actual identity-a former mercenary named Jack Harper. He disappeared shortly after the end of the First Contact War, and was never seen or heard from again. Around the same time, the Illusive Man appeared. His organization has done a _lot_ of reprehensible things since then, but they did get something right a few months ago, when they recovered Shepard's body, put it back together and revived him, built the new _Normandy_, and sent him off to deal with the Collectors. Good thing, too, since the Collectors were abducting entire human colonies in the Terminus Systems and had set their sights on Earth."

Chula shuddered again. "_Shit_."

"Yeah."

Chula crossed her arms over her chest and flicked another glance at Ghost. "Looks to me like enough Cerberus operatives are still complete bastards, though. Experimenting on a child like this-"

"It was my idea." Ghost turned those glowing eyes on her. "I had nothing to lose by then. Some of the Cerberus people tried to turn me into one of their tools." Ghost held Chula's gaze without blinking. "Let's just say I gave them my opinion. After that, the rest were more than happy to let me do my own thing and even give me whatever I needed to do it."

_Well. Damn._ Chula turned to stare out the window again.

Weyland activated his Omni-Tool and scanned Ghost. She barely glanced at him as she matched the _Sulaco_'s velocity and turned her ship to align its airlock with the freighter's.

"You might want to contact your ship once you finish scanning my DNA. They won't be able to see us unless they look out a window."

"Acknowledged." Weyland opened a channel. "_Sulaco_, we are preparing to dock."

"Still can't see anything," Magnum replied.

"We are approaching the forward airlock. Docking umbilical is extending."

Ghost nudged the thrusters once more and the umbilical locked into place with the slightest bump.

"Ah, I guess that was you. Is Chula flying that ship?"

"No," Chula said, "but the pilot's almost as good as I am." She waited for Ghost to glance at her, and then winked. A smile tugged at the corner of the girl's mouth before she turned back to her console.

Valeria stepped toward the airlock, paused, and stared at Ghost. "Is there anything you need? Anything I can do to help you out?"

"I'm good, for now."

"Okay. Well ... see you around, then."

"Maybe." Ghost nodded, faced her console again, and waited.

Chula suppressed another shiver until she'd walked around the corner and entered the airlock. Once she and the others had boarded the _Sulaco_ and the hatch closed, a muffled _thunk_ reverberated through the hull as the umbilical detached.

The inner hatch opened, revealing Magnum and Irving. He squeezed through the doorway before it had opened completely, and Magnum grinned. Irving rushed over to Valeria, smiled, and put his arms around her. She embraced him, closed her eyes, and released a long, slow breath.

"Exactly what I needed, honey," she whispered. "Thanks."

"Anytime." He kissed her and then nudged his forehead gently against hers.

Chula smiled, adjusted the angle of her hat slightly, and turned to Weyland. "If we're done here, I'll go set a course back to the Citadel."

"Acknowledged." Weyland nodded, turned back to Val and Irving, and watched for a few seconds with his head cocked to one side. Then he turned and walked with Chula to the end of the corridor. "We will inform the rest of the team that we are on the way."

#

Once they caught their breath, Valeria realized the comm panel had been beeping for at least twenty seconds. She raised her head from Irv's bare chest, reached for the glowing panel, and then scooted a few more centimeters until her talons contacted the flashing button.

"Yeah?" She took a few more gasping breaths, settled back into Irving's arms, and sighed.

Chula appeared in the holo-display. "Oh. Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"You didn't." Irv grinned. "We finished a minute ago."

"Ah. Well, I guess that explains the delay."

Val nodded and giggled. "What's up?"

"We've reached the Citadel and will be docking in a few minutes."

"Already?"

"Like the human saying goes," Irv said with a wiggle of his eyebrows, "time flies when you're having fun."

"It certainly does." Val glanced at the panel. "We'll be ready."

"See you in a few." Chula's image faded out.

Val tapped the button again, let out another sigh, and lowered her head back to her husband's chest. _Just another moment._

He held her silently, giving her all the time she needed to get herself back into the proper headspace for her Spectre duties. After the things she'd seen on Chasca, she'd needed a few hours of passion and tenderness, and didn't want it to end.

Irv smiled and traced a fingertip over her bright red facial tattoos, moved up over the plates on her forehead, over the crest at the top, and along one of the long horns that swept past the back of her head. She shivered, laughed softly, and reached up to caress his cheek. Human skin was so _soft_-it had been slightly off-putting when they'd first met, though once she'd gotten used to it, the effect it had on her was quite the opposite.

_Aw, hell, if we don't stop now, we'll stay here for the rest of the day._ She kissed him and slid over to the side of the bed with a reluctant moan.

"Duty calls, eh?" Irv sat up, leaned over, slipped his arms around her waist, and rubbed his cheek against her mandible.

"Yeah." She reached back to stroke his hair. "But don't worry, tonight we can rent a room and catch up on what we've been missing." They usually had sex at least four or five times every day, but recent events had thrown them off their routine. _Can't let the job get in the way any more than it already has._ The last time she'd been a Spectre, it had become _all_ she was.

Not this time.

She sighed yet again, patted his hand, and hauled herself off the bed. She picked up her armor from where she'd tossed it, put it back on, and paused to blow Irving a kiss on her way out the door. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiled and kept his eyes on her until the door closed.

_Okay. Back to business._ Valeria met the rest of the crew at the airlock. Chula, Weyland, Magnum, Quint, Bailey and his son, and the surviving mercs from Chasca had gathered around the inner hatch.

"Sorry. Hope I didn't keep you waiting long."

"Don't worry about it." Chula laughed softly. "First things first, and all that."

"Heh. Yeah."

Weyland opened the airlock and everyone stepped inside. Bailey's son and the merc captain's daughter, Valeria noticed immediately, were still holding hands.

"So," Val said as the inner hatch closed and the outer one opened, "what are your plans?"

"I've got reports to file," Bailey said. "And I need to figure out how to tell Scott's mother about all this. And spend some quality time with him, assuming he's not too busy with his new girlfriend to talk to his old man for a while."

"Garusha and I used the last few hours wisely. I think we'll be okay on our own for an afternoon or so." Scott wiggled his eyebrows. "By tomorrow I'll probably be sore all over. From, y'know ... overexertion."

Bailey grimaced and rubbed a hand over his face as everyone walked down the corridor toward the C-Sec headquarters. "I really don't want to hear about it."

Garusha's father burst out laughing. "I'm not a fan of it, either, but I have to admit I'm enjoying the discomfort it's causing you."

"Eh, I'll get over it." Bailey nodded at the guard stationed at the far end of the corridor. "What about you guys? Where are you going from here?"

"The first thing I need to do is get some unpleasant duties out of the way. I have to notify the families of the people I lost."

Bailey winced. "I've been there, myself, more than once. Comes with the job, but that doesn't make it any easier."

"Sure doesn't." The merc captain sighed.

So did Valeria. "I need to do the same thing for the Cerberus researchers who died. In fact, I should head straight to the Spectre office and take care of it immediately."

"I'll go with you, if that's okay." Chula adjusted the angle of her hat again. "I have some unfinished business with Tela Vasir."

_Ah, shit. I forgot all about that._ Valeria sighed. "You don't have to go through with it. Vasir's a twat. What she thinks about you-or anything else-doesn't matter."

"This is a chance to correct people's impression of quarians as weaklings. I couldn't care less what Vasir thinks, but if I back down from her challenge, I'll end up perpetuating that image others have of us."

"You sure you want to do this?"

"Yes."

Val sighed again. "Alright." She nodded at the others as they entered the C-Sec office. "Guess we should get it over with, then. We'll see you later."

Everyone said their goodbyes and Valeria and Chula made their way to the Spectre headquarters.

_Maybe Vasir isn't here. Maybe she's on assignment, or having lunch, or something. Maybe this won't have to happen._

She stepped through the door and found Vasir standing at one of the terminals. Valeria winced.

_Shit._ She put a hand on Chula's shoulder.

"Listen, if you're hell-bent on going through with this, just be careful. Vasir fights dirty."

"I bet I fight _dirtier_. There's a certain batarian merc I fought on Omega who could tell you that. Well, except he's dead, so he actually can't." She strode over to Vasir.

Valeria sighed and hurried after her. _I guess notifying the families will have to wait. I just hope I don't have to add another family to the list._

Chula stopped beside Vasir, leaned over, and braced her hands abruptly on the console. Vasir twitched and whipped her head to the left. When she recognized Chula, her brows shot upward and her jaw dropped. She recovered her composure quickly, and smirked.

"Well, I have to admit I didn't expect to see you again."

Chula merely leaned closer and snarled into Vasir's face.

"It's _time_."

#

"Hey, babe!" Dakka grinned and waved at Quint and the rest of the gang. He turned, spotted her across the marketplace, and smiled. They rushed toward each other and embraced.

"Good to see you back on your feet." Quint gave her a quick kiss and raised an eyebrow. "_Should_ you be up and around so soon, though?"

"Aw, I'm fine. Barely a scar." She put her hands on his shoulders and stared into his eyes. "You okay? You're smiling, but I'm getting the feeling there's something else going on behind it."

"Well, after what we saw on Chasca ..." He sighed and clasped her hand as the rest of the crew caught up with them. "The whole research team was dead before we arrived, plus a bunch of mercs. The only survivors were Bailey's kid and a few of the Blue Suns Cerberus hired to guard him. And that was only the beginning."

"Damn, dude. Are you gonna be okay?"

"Eventually. I'll tell you all about it later. I hope things were a lot more uneventful here."

"Uh, yeah." She chuckled. "About that ..."

Quint frowned and everyone else stopped and stared at her.

"The situation with Elias Kelham took an interesting turn right after I got out of surgery. The wife of the turian he ran over showed up with a huge Eclipse team and tried to drag him out of C-Sec headquarters. They ended up in a standoff with all the C-Sec officers present, until I showed up."

Quint gaped at her. "You took on an Eclipse squad after you had _surgery_?"

"It didn't actually come to that. I managed to talk her down. She left peacefully. She's letting the courts handle it-for now, at least."

"Wow. A _krogan_ taking the diplomatic route?" Magnum grinned and nudged Dakka's shoulder. "Now you've aroused my curiosity."

"I'll fill you all in as soon as there's time. Yutani's just told me that we're meeting with our clients from Bekenstein, a science team, and Commander Shepard when the _Normandy_ arrives later this morning. It's about the artifacts Malcolm and Benny found there." Dakka grinned. "Or you can wait until my interview with Emily Wong airs to hear about the standoff."

"Uh, interview?" Quint raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. She tracked me down right after I headed off to grab something to eat. She overheard people talking about it and really wanted a scoop." Dakka laughed as they made their way through the marketplace. "She mentioned some newcomer named Diana Allers being her main competition."

"Never heard of her."

"Allers does a show called _BattleNet_, or something like that. She seems to be trying to make a name for herself by covering conflicts-pirate attacks, merc operations, military skirmishes, that sort of thing. All while wearing nothing above the waist but really tight sports bras. Around the office, they call her 'Battletits.'"

Quint snorted and Magnum burst out laughing.

Dakka grinned again, glanced around and raised a brow ridge. "Hey, where are Chula and Valeria?"

"Taking care of some business in the Spectre headquarters." Quint sighed. "I don't know how this got started, but Chula mentioned some 'unfinished business' with a Spectre named Vasir. I got the impression that they were going to have some sort of confrontation."

"Initiating search on Spectre Operative Vasir," Weyland said. "Records found. Tela Vasir. Spectre file heavily redacted. However, her public file includes three hundred sixty-one years of military training and service prior to joining Special Tactics and Reconnaissance."

"Oh, hell," Quint muttered. "Chula's got a natural talent for combat, but she's still learning. _Any_ of us would have a hard time against someone with that much experience."

"Well, Valeria's with her." Dakka put her arm around his shoulders. "She won't let Vasir go too far."

"I hope you're right. I wouldn't mind being there to keep an eye on whatever she's getting into, but we're probably not allowed in there."

"Hmm. Well, we can try. Maybe Valeria can authorize us temporarily."

Weyland turned his head suddenly. Dakka glanced in the same direction. After a few seconds, she managed to pick out a child crying amidst the hum of multiple conversations all around her. She zeroed in on a human child standing in the middle of the crowd, glancing around frantically, and wailing.

"Aww," Magnum said, and hurried through the crowd to the kid. The others followed her. She kneeled in front of the little boy and said, "Hey, what's wrong? Can't find your parents?"

He nodded and pointed over his shoulder. "I wanted to see the fishies over there. Then I ... then I ... I can't find my mommy!" He took a deep breath and resumed crying.

Weyland glanced at Magnum. His head-flaps raised and lowered, and he turned his single optic back to the kid. Then he sank to his knees, mimicking Magnum's pose, and reached out slowly to touch the kid's shoulder.

"We will help you find her. What is your mother's name?"

The child sobbed several more times before finally whimpering, "Mommy!"

"Oh, boy." Magnum sighed, but quickly replaced it with a smile. "Well, we can go to the Citadel Security office right over there, and they can help you. Maybe they can page her over the speaker system."

Weyland remained motionless for perhaps a second, then his Omni-Tool interface appeared around his left arm. He prodded at it and stood. "I will scan the people around us and show you their faces. Tell me when you see your mother."

"O ... okay." The kid sobbed, sniffed, and wiped tears from his cheeks.

Weyland turned his head slowly and a series of faces appeared in his Tool's holo-display as he zoomed in on one and then another. The child stared intently at each one.

_Aww!_ Dakka smiled and gave Quint's hand a gentle squeeze. He smiled back and they waited silently for several minutes before the kid pointed abruptly at a frantic, tear-streaked face.

"Mommy!"

The image zoomed back out until a set of holo-signs and advertisements filled the background. Magnum stood and nodded at Weyland.

"Nice work. I'll go find her." She weaved her way through the crowd and returned about thirty seconds later with the woman in tow. The woman rushed up to her child, dropped to her knees, and threw her arms around him.

Magnum smiled and gave the others a double thumbs-up.

Once the woman calmed down, she stood and wiped her tears away with one hand while keeping the other clamped onto her son's hand. She turned to Magnum and said, "Thank you _so_ much! I don't even know how to thank you!"

"We're just happy to help. And all I did was bring you over here." Magnum waved a hand at Weyland. "He's actually the one who found you."

"Oh." The woman glanced back and forth between them several times, and finally aimed a shaky smile at Weyland. "Well, then ... uh, thank you."

"You are welcome."

"I ... we should head home now. But thank you again!" She turned, but the kid pulled away and scampered over to Weyland. He smiled and hugged the geth's leg.

Weyland raised one eyebrow-flap, glanced at Quint and Dakka, and reached down to pat the kid's shoulder. The kid grinned, let go, and hurried back to his mother. He waved before both of them turned to vanish into the crowd, and Weyland mimicked the gesture.

Magnum grinned and patted Weyland on the back.

"Awesome." Dakka beamed in the direction the mother and son had gone.

"So," Magnum said after they'd continued walking, "what's the _Normandy_'s ETA?"

"A little under two hours, last I heard. Should be enough time to hook up with Lia, Yutani, and our clients, and catch each other up on recent events before we have to get into the heavy stuff. Maybe drop by the Spectre office and see how Chula's doing, too."

Quint smiled and nodded. "Lead the way."

#

"Over here!" Lia waved at the others. They turned, glanced around, spotted her from the hospital door, and waved back. Once they made their way to the outdoor cafe, Lia and Sidonis stood and greeted them. Lia glanced at each of them and cocked her head. "Chula and Valeria aren't with you?"

"They're okay," Quint said. "They just had something to take care of. Irving and General Kurakova headed off to contact their family to let them know that they're both alright."

"Oh, good. So, was your mission a success?"

"Mostly. Bailey's son is okay, and we rescued some of the mercs Cerberus hired to keep him secure." Quint sighed. "We'll fill you in on the details later. How're things going here?"

"You sound like you're feeling better," Dakka said.

"I am, yes. Quite a lot, in fact. Thank you for arranging my meeting with Trent."

"Ah, I was hoping you'd get some." Dakka grinned and Lia laughed.

"It didn't go _quite_ that far, but ... well, I'll tell you about it later. For now I'll just say that I'm feeling better now than I have in well over a year."

"Glad to hear that." Dakka beamed and then glanced over at the hospital. "How's Kenn, by the way?"

"Out of surgery," Sidonis said. He pointed at one of the windows on the hospital's fourth floor. "He's not awake yet, but we're told he'll recover. His family is on the way from the Flotilla."

"C-Sec is guarding his room, just in case." Lia shrugged. "I'm not really confident about their willingness to protect a quarian, but ... "

"Well, Bailey feels like he owes us for helping him rescue his son, so he said he'd make sure Kenn stays safe." Magnum smiled. "So, you two are free to join in our meeting with Malcolm, Benny, the science team, and the _Normandy_'s command staff when they arrive, if you want."

"Ehh ... " Sidonis sighed. "It's probably not a good idea for me to get anywhere near the _Normandy_ crew. Garrus is probably still onboard, and last time he and I were on the Citadel at the same time, he almost blew my head off-and I can't really fault him for that. Commander Shepard barely managed to talk him out of it. If Garrus sees me again ... "

"Ah. Well, if we run into Garrus, we'll put in a good word for you." Dakka clapped him on the shoulder. "We'll tell him how you risked your life to save Kenn from those mercs, and how you're still looking out for him."

Quint nodded. "Yeah, we'll do what we can to convince him that you're trying to make up for what you did before."

"I'll never be able to make up for that, but I'm definitely trying to do better from now on." Sidonis nodded. "Thank you."

"Any time." Dakka turned to Lia. "Well, since Kenn's in good hands, wanna come to the meeting with us? From what I've heard already, there's some _hefty_ stuff we're gonna be talking about."

_Oh, hell. The Reapers._ Lia's good mood started to fade, but she shook it off. _I've made too much progress to slip back into fear and depression now. Whatever is coming, I'll face it head-on and find a way to deal with it._ She nodded.

"Sounds interesting." She glanced at Sidonis. "If you don't mind ... ?"

"Not at all. Go right ahead." He sat and picked up his drink. "Honestly, I like the thought of just sitting here and doing nothing for a while. It'll be the first chance I've had to relax and clear my head since before I traveled to Omega."

"Okay." Lia smiled. "We'll catch up with you later, then."

"First we'll meet up with Malcolm and Benny and the science team." Quint waved a hand down the street as they began walking. "They'd already discovered some pretty serious shit yesterday, and Dr. T'Lura's team stayed up all night with the artifacts and records."

_Uh-oh._ Lia nodded. "Can't wait to hear what they've found out."

#

"Well, this is hardly fair." Vasir stood in the center of the mat and waved a hand over her dark gray tunic and pants. "Your quarian pet is wearing that helmet and envirosuit, yet all I have is this simple outfit."

"Quarians can't take their suits off unless they're in a completely sterile environment, and you _know_ it." Valeria crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Vasir. "Besides, since when do _you_ fight fair? If the dead could speak, I'm sure there are several large encampments filled with your victims who'd be happy to tell us all how you slaughtered them even though they were unarmed."

Vasir's eyes flicked toward her and she sneered before locking on to Chula again. Chula glanced at Valeria and her glowing eyes widened a bit.

_Oh, shit. If that's typical of Spectres, it's no surprise Val wanted out. _She returned her attention to her opponent and shrugged.

"Tell you what. I'll take off all the hard pieces of my suit. Everything under the armored parts is a soft, flexible material. I'm afraid the helmet will have to stay on, but the rest of my body will be as vulnerable as yours." Chula placed her hands on her hips. "Or I could wait for you to put on your own armor. Or if you're _really_ feeling inadequate, I could take everything off and fight you naked despite the risk of infection. I'd still win, by the way."

Soft laughter rippled around the room. Chula glanced around at the half-dozen other Spectres and support personnel who'd come to observe the "sparring match." She wondered idly how many of them had worked with Valeria the last time she was a Spectre, and how many had joined since her departure.

Vasir snorted. "Dream on. I'll face you in whatever you want to wear, and I'll make sure you spend the next year in Huerta Memorial-_if_ you somehow manage to survive the next few minutes."

Chula rolled her eyes and detached the armored outer layer of her suit. One of the other Spectres, a salarian, stepped forward to take them from her. He smiled, leaned forward, and whispered, "I'm rooting for you. I've never liked that bitch."

"Thanks." Chula chuckled. "I'll give her a few extra punches just for you."

He started to speak-but then he glanced at something behind her and his eyes widened, his mouth opened, and he gasped.

Valeria suddenly sucked in a quick breath of her own. "Chula!"

Chula spun around to face Vasir just in time to catch a boot in her gut. Her lungs seized up and she doubled over.

_Shit! Shit shit shit! Breathe, damn it!_

She slumped forward and rolled onto her side.

Vasir leaned over and grinned. "You're not the first quarian I've fought, you know. There was this one a few years ago. I found him working with a gang of mercs. He claimed he was under duress, but it didn't matter."

Chula finally managed to draw a gasping, burning breath. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

"He was just as helpless as you are now," Vasir continued with an even bigger grin. "I ripped his helmet off and coughed in his face, then I just let the allergic reaction do the rest. The last thing he ever saw was me laughing at him."

"You b-"

Vasir cocked her right leg back and kicked her. The impact scooted Chula across the floor and caused her to curl up again. Vasir planted her hands on her hips, chuckled, and waited for Chula to suck in another raspy breath.

"Not even worth my time. Pathetic, weakling quarian."

_Oh, you're gonna regret opening your fucking mouth._ Chula deliberately mumbled something incoherent.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't hear that." Vasir cupped her right hand to her auditory orifice and leaned closer. "What was that you said?"

Chula mumbled again, and Vasir laughed and leaned in even closer.

"Still can't-"

Chula whipped her right arm out like a cobra striking. She clamped her hand around Vasir's left breast and squeezed, bearing down with every last ounce of strength she could muster. Before Vasir could do more than open her eyes and mouth wide in sudden shock, Chula _twisted_ it, rolled her body over to wrench it even farther, and finished off with a violent _yank_. Vasir shrieked and staggered away, clutching at her chest. She dropped to one knee before getting back on her feet and stumbling to the edge of the mat.

"Fuck this," Chula grumbled. She strode back to the salarian and held her left hand out. "Give me back my boots. They've got some _stompin' _to do."

He stared at her, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, and nodded. As he handed the boots over, Chula caught a glimpse of Valeria gaping at Vasir and holding her hands to her chest.

"_Augh_! I don't even _have_ boobs, but I swear I'm having sympathy pain!"

_I'm barely getting started._ Chula laughed softly as she put the boots on and latched the buckles. She stormed back across the mat and Vasir growled and cocked her right fist back. She lost her balance and moved her feet apart to stabilize herself.

_Exactly what I needed._ Chula feinted a punch of her own-then she pulled her right leg back and rammed her boot into Vasir's crotch-again, putting all the strength she had behind the blow.

Vasir released an ear-shattering howl, doubled over, and pitched forward. Her face plowed into the mat and slid forward as she collapsed. She let out a soft moan and turned completely limp.

The salarian cocked his head, walked over to Vasir, and scanned her with his Omni-Tool. "Well. She's blacked out." He turned to aim another awestruck stare at Chula. "And I think I'm in love."

_Hah!_ Chula fired up her Omni-Tool. _Salarians don't often have casual flings, but maybe working with so many species has broadened his horizons._ "I'll give you my contact info, then. Call me sometime."

He grinned and set his Tool to exchange info. "I might just do that."

Chula glanced at the text appearing briefly on the surface of her Tool interface as the device accepted the transfer and saved the file. _Nice to meet you, Jondum Bau._

Bau handed over the outer layer of Chula's suit and she reattached the pieces.

"I thought that only worked on males," one of the support personnel muttered.

"Guess not," the one beside him said. She shuddered and turned away. "Seeing that actually nauseated me. Not that Vasir hasn't had it coming for a long time."

"Yeah. I'm thinking we should get a med team in here. Looks like Vasir's the one who's going to be spending some time in Huerta." He grinned. "Gotta say, though, that was _awesome_. First time I've ever had naughty thoughts about a quarian. After all this is over, I'm gonna need to crank one out."

The other snickered.

After finished putting her outer layer back on, Bau smiled and bowed.

"Witnessing this has been an honor and a privilege."

She returned the gesture. "It's been quite an honor for me, too, given the things I've heard about Vasir."

He chuckled. "Well, I should see to the med team. I hope to see you in action again, someday." He joined the other two at the door.

Chula grinned and walked over to Valeria. Val picked up Chula's duster and hat from the console beside her and handed them over. Chula winced at her aching belly, but grinned at Val.

"I _told_ you I fight dirtier."

#

"Looks like we all had the same idea," General Kurakova said as she and Irving joined the others in the docking bay. Also present-the entire _Sulaco_ crew minus Chula, Malcolm and Benny, Dr. T'Lura and her team, and Goresk.

"You're just in time." Dakka smiled at them before turning back to the huge viewport. "The _Normandy_ should arrive sometime in the next few minutes."

"Good. I'm looking forward to this. I've been keeping up on Shepard's adventures ever since he became the first human Spectre."

Irving glanced around. "Is Val on her way?"

"Just arriving," Valeria called out from the door behind everyone. Irving turned, grinned, and rushed into his wife's arms.

"Hey." He kept his hands on her shoulders and gazed into her eyes. "I know that look. What's wrong?"

"I just finished sending out a long list of depressing emails." Val sighed, put her arms around him again, and nuzzled his cheek. "Informing the families of the Cerberus team and mercs who were killed on Chasca."

"Ah. I'm sorry."

"Me, too. I've always thought that sort of thing was one of the hardest parts of this job."

As they held each other, Dakka glanced at Chula and frowned. "Hey, you alright?"

Chula nodded, but kept one hand on her midsection. "I'll survive. Just had a little 'sparring match' with one of the Spectres."

"Oh, yeah, we heard about that. How'd it go?"

Valeria chuckled. "She fought Tela Vasir. It lasted less than two minutes, but Vasir probably won't wake up for at _least_ a few hours."

"Oh, _really_?" Dakka grinned.

"Huh." Goresk stared at Chula. "I've heard of Vasir. She's one vicious bitch."

"Yeah, she tried to fight dirty right from the start." Chula shrugged. "Turns out she's kind of an amateur at that sort of thing."

"Oh." Dakka rubbed her hands together. "Details, please! How did you take her down?"

"Titty-twister from hell, followed by a weapons-grade kick to the crotch." Valeria clapped Chula on the shoulder. "It was truly horrifying. I can't stand Vasir, and it still hurt me just to see it. Made me glad that turians don't have breasts."

"No kidding. Just hearing about it makes me glad krogan don't have 'em, either."

"Yeah. And seeing the groin attack just made me want to _cry_." Val shrugged. "Couldn't have happened to a better asshole, though."

Goresk stared at Chula again, all four eyes widening, and finally shook his head. "Well, I sure as hell won't ever underestimate a quarian again. Maybe even avoid fighting them at all, if that's how they are in combat. I'd really like to go through the rest of my life without having my testicles ruptured."

Chula laughed and bowed theatrically.

"Ah, here it comes," Dr. T'Lura said from her spot directly in front of the viewport. She pointed at an approaching ship. "The _Normandy_'s about to dock."

Everyone else stepped up to the window. Chula cocked her head.

"That looks just like Ghost's ship, only a lot bigger."

"Yeah." Valeria clasped Irving's hand as they watched the _Normandy_ ease into the docking clamps. "Where are we having the meeting? C-Sec? Or the Spectre office?"

"Commander Shepard invited us aboard, actually." Kurakova grinned and walked over to the airlock. The others joined her as it pressurized. When the doors opened, she waved a hand inside. "Shall we?"


	22. Chapter 22

"You know, it just now hit me," Dr. T'Lura said as they waited for the airlock's decontamination cycle to finish. "We're actually going to meet Commander Shepard and his team. The ones who saved the Citadel from Sovereign _and_ stopped the Collectors from abducting every human colony in the Terminus Systems. Suddenly I'm nervous."

"I didn't know you were a fan, Raena." Dr. Bilson chuckled.

"I guess it never came up in conversation." T'Lura shrugged. "Shepard and the Alliance fleet saved the Citadel, the _Destiny Ascension_, and the whole damned galaxy two years ago. And just a few months ago, Shepard and the _Normandy_ crew threw themselves into the fire for us all again, even though the Alliance and the Council refused to lift a finger. I'm grateful, is all." She shook her head slowly. "I was here when Sovereign and its fleet attacked. If Shepard and the rest hadn't done what they did, I and everyone I know would be dead now."

_And if the rumors I've heard are true, the whole galaxy would be undergoing a mass extinction._ Chula shivered, winced at the pain in her midsection, and kept her thoughts to herself for the moment.

T'Lura yawned suddenly, and Bilson laughed again. "Try not to fall asleep during the meeting."

"You, too, buddy. You were up all night just like I was."

"Well, that stuff was just too fascinating."

"Besides," Dr. Selyria mumbled, crossing her arms tightly over her chest, "who could sleep after some of those records we viewed?"

"No kidding." T'Lura took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

The inner doors opened and everyone faced forward.

Chula cocked her head at the trio standing in front of them. In most images of Shepard she'd seen, he'd usually worn some sort of uniform-first that of the Systems Alliance, then, _briefly_, a Cerberus outfit. More recently, he appeared to have begun wearing civilian clothing, and had stuck with it. Here, he wore black cargo pants, boots, a plain black shirt, and a vest that appeared to be made of denim.

Beside him stood a turian and a quarian, the former in dark gray armor with blue trim and the latter a variation of the typical quarian envirosuit, only a bit more ostentatious than most. The right side of the turian's face was badly scarred. Shepard was clean-shaven, but had let his hair grow out a bit.

He smiled, glanced from one of the visitors to another, and arched an eyebrow when his gaze landed on the two geth platforms.

"Well, I never would've expected to see that if it hadn't been mentioned in the message you sent. And it's still an odd sight."

The quarian on his right stared at the geth. Chula held up a hand.

"Take it easy. They're with us."

"I know. It's just ... well, I shouldn't have to explain."

"You don't." Chula put a hand on each geth unit's shoulder. "But they've saved my life more than once."

"And mine," Lia said softly.

"You look familiar."

"I met you, the commander, and another geth unit on the Citadel a few months ago."

The other quarian drew in a quick breath. "Lia'Vael?"

"Yes. It's good to see you again."

"And you."

Shepard stepped back so everyone could leave the airlock. "I hope your situation has improved since then, Lia."

"It has, actually. In a really unexpected, bizarre way, but yes, I'm much better off than I was."

"I'm glad to hear that, Lia," the quarian said.

Shepard waved a hand first at the quarian, then the turian. "This is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, and this is Garrus Vakarian."

"It's an honor to meet you. I'm Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco." She turned and nodded at each of her companions. "Weyland, Yutani, Dakka, Quentin Bork, Magnum, Valeria Terakkis, her husband Irving Kostmeyer, and General Natalie Kurakova. And these are our most recent clients, Malcolm Takahashi and his husband Benny Culver, and their associate, Goresk. They're the ones who made the initial discovery." Chula turned to the right and motioned at the asari, salarian, and human scientists. "And this is the research team who've been studying the artifacts all night-Dr. Raena T'Lura, Dr. Belynda Nyxeria, Dr. Dala Selyria, Dr. Aren Anohe, Dr. Vaseon Ranedi, Dr. Solak Renus, and Dr. Geoff Bilson."

"You might need to take a deep breath after all that." T'Lura chuckled and shook Shepard's hand. "Pleased to meet all of you, Commander."

"Technically, it's not 'commander' anymore. I haven't rejoined the Alliance, and honestly, they're probably not too eager to have me back since I had to work with Cerberus for a while. Just 'Shepard' will be fine."

"Okay." T'Lura smiled.

"The briefing room is right this way." Shepard led them down a short corridor and nodded to his left. "That's our pilot, Joker. Or Jeff Moreau, if you prefer."

Chula glanced to the left and waved at a young man with a beard seated at the controls. He also wore civilian clothes, a simple T-shirt, cargo shorts, and a baseball cap.

An odd hologram blipped up above the console beside him-a glowing blue sphere atop a column.

"Welcome aboard," a synthetic female voice said, and a row of lines on the front of the projection pulsated in unison.

"And that's EDI," Shepard said. "The _Normandy_'s AI."

"Ah. Um, nice to meet you, EDI."

"Likewise."

T'Lura grinned. "Enhanced Defense Intelligence. I've read reports about you, but most of the info was redacted. I don't recall hearing about an AI being installed on any other ship."

"To my knowledge, I am the first. It shows how desperate Cerberus was to stop the Collectors."

T'Lura arched a brow. " ... Ah."

Shepard smirked.

"That is a joke," EDI added.

"Ah." T'Lura chuckled.

"Your humor subroutines still need a little fine-tuning," Joker muttered, leaning slightly toward the hologram. "But you've shown a lot of improvement."

"Thank you, Jeff."

Shepard turned and led the group down the corridor to the right. "EDI's more than just the ship's AI. She's part of the crew."

"Huh," Joker muttered, his voice receding behind Chula. "More geth on our ship. Hooray."

"Play nice, Jeff," EDI replied.

"Yes, dear." Joker heaved an exaggerated sigh.

Chula giggled, then winced as the ache in her gut flared up.

Shepard introduced each crew member seated at the consoles below and to either side of the walkway until the group emerged into a room that, by quarian standards, was practically cavernous.

_Wow. The ship I took out on my Pilgrimage could fit in this room._

"This is the Combat Information Center." Shepard continued introducing crew members at their stations along the walls and the central console. A huge, holographic map of the galaxy floated above the console.

As she nodded at each man or woman they passed by, Chula noticed all of them were in civilian clothes, having apparently ditched the Cerberus uniforms they'd started out wearing.

Shepard took the curving walkway to the left, led the group around the central console, and headed for the door at the back of the room. As they passed the end of the console, Shepard motioned at the young, red-haired woman standing there.

"This is Yeoman Kelly Chambers."

"Hello." She smiled at them, and the others greeted her as they passed. Her gaze lingered on Garrus, and she turned to continue watching him as the doors parted. Her smile turned slightly saucy.

He winked at her before he stepped through the doors.

_Oh._ Chula grinned. _Oh, ho, ho._

They entered a large laboratory. At the far end of the room, an old salarian puttered around a bench holding a variety of instruments and monitors.

"This is Professor Mordin Solus," Shepard said.

"Mmm." Mordin flicked a split-second glance at the group and continued working. "Pleased to meet you."

Shepard exchanged a glance with Tali and Garrus. Tali chuckled softly. Shepard took a step toward the door to the right.

Mordin glanced up again, blinked once, and cocked his head before returning his attention to whatever was on his monitors.

"Hmm. Asari, human, salarian, quarian, turian, batarian, even geth. Intriguing group. No gunfire. Most surprising." He continued poking at his console. "Geth wearing clothing. Strange."

_Wonder what he'd think if Yutani were still wearing that female-Santa costume._ Chula had suggested the two platforms either change into something discreet or wear nothing at all. Weyland had put on a pair of cargo pants and his thigh-length black coat, and Yutani had slipped back into her dark cloak, but left the hood down.

"It helps them blend in a little more," Chula said. "At least, from a distance."

"Hmm." Mordin turned from the console to a set of instruments on the counter to his left. "Geth platform deviating from standard configuration," Mordin continued. "Designed to mimic shape of female quarian body? Point uncertain."

Chula laughed softly. "I figure it's either one of their social experiments, or just a way to make it easier for us to tell which unit we're talking to."

"Ah. Recall mention of social experiments by geth unit aboard _Normandy_. Results often amusing. Would like to have heard more." He stared at the instruments for barely a second, adjusted a set of controls, and stared again. "Also, quarian wearing clothing over protective suit. Unusual sight."

"Nice outfit, by the way," Tali said, her glowing eyes flicking up and down, taking in Chula's boots, black duster, and outback hat.

"Thanks."

"Never would've occurred to me to put on anything other than the cloth parts I've already added to my suit."

"I saw these in a store one day and loved the way they looked. The boots were built for humans, but I was able to have them altered to fit quarian legs."

"Hmm. I'll have to give something like that a try. A little more protection on the feet can't hurt. And all those extra pockets must come in handy."

"They do, yeah."

Shepard grinned and opened the door. "The briefing room is through here and to the left."

They filed through the door after him. As Quint and Dakka passed Mordin, he cocked his head, but didn't take his eyes off the holographic displays in front of him.

"Krogan female outside Tuchanka. Interesting."

"Eh, I left Tuchanka behind a long time ago. And I'm not going back." Dakka shrugged. "Long story."

"Ah." Mordin sniffed. "Notice human scent on krogan, and krogan scent on human. Not blood. Perspiration? Saliva? Indicates ... _intimacy_. Somewhat ... unsettling."

Dakka raised a brow ridge and Mordin held his hands up.

"Offense unintentional. Have never heard of krogan-human pairing before. Never contemplated logistics. Human physiology not as ... _robust_ as krogan's. Problematic. Would like to conduct tests. See how injuries prevented."

Quint raised both eyebrows. Dakka grinned. Chula had to hold in a laugh.

"I'm sure that's fascinating, Mordin, but it can wait." Shepard stepped past the door and waved everyone inside. "We've got some urgent matters to discuss."

"Of course. Apologies. Sometimes let scientific curiosity run amok. Will restrain myself."

Dakka leaned over to Mordin and whispered, "We can discuss the 'tests' later."

"Uh, I don't-" Quint sighed, rolled his eyes, and followed her through the door.

Chula grinned, waited for everyone else to enter the briefing room, and brought up the rear. The rest of Shepard's core team was already gathered around the long table in the center, another odd mix of species. Mostly human, but there was also a young krogan around Dakka's age, and a geth platform with a huge hole in its torso that exposed its internal components. A piece of N7 armor covered part of the hole, but a lot more was needed to protect its innards.

Shepard introduced the team. Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, the former in a set of black armor and the latter in pants, shirt, and leather jacket. Dr. Karin Chakwas, a middle-aged woman in a medical uniform. A small, young, bald woman named Jack, who carried herself in a way that suggested she was far more dangerous than her frail appearance let on. Zaeed Masani, a man with a scarred face and a cybernetic eye. Kasumi Goto, a young woman with a barely-visible face under the hood of her outfit. The krogan introduced himself as Grunt, and the geth was designated Legion.

"We're almost ready to begin," EDI's voice said from speakers in the table. "Connections established."

A holofield appeared above the table, and several images coalesced. Two humans, one in civilian attire and the other in an Alliance uniform, a quarian, and two asari.

"Thank you for joining us," Shepard said, nodding at them before turning to his guests. He waved a hand at each holographic figure. "Admiral Steven Hackett, Councillor David Anderson, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Councilor Tevos, and Matriarch Lidanya, captain of the _Destiny Ascension_."

_Wow. This really _is_ big._ Chula took a deep breath and introduced everyone who'd come onboard with her. Afterward, she took another. _Dr. T'Lura was right, this really does use up a lot of air._

T'Lura nodded at Malcolm and Benny. "These gentlemen are the ones who made the discovery on Bekenstein."

Malcolm stepped forward, grinned, and rubbed his hands together, giving himself a moment to think of something to say. "Well, uh ... boy, have we got a story to tell you."

#

_Oh, shit._ Lia shivered as yet another ancient record of the Reapers wiping out galactic civilization played out in the holofield. Watching video clips of Sovereign's attack on the Citadel had been bad enough. Back when her Pilgrimage had begun, she'd kept up on current events through major local news sources, but the reporting on the battle's aftermath had cured her of that. Images and vids of the battle, the destruction, and the casualties had been everywhere she looked, and she'd reached the point where she'd simply had to turn it all off.

But _this_ ...

In the record playing currently, a projectile from a huge mass accelerator punched through eight Reapers before gouging a canyon across an entire hemisphere of the planet Klendagon-and yet the Reapers had _still_ won that fight and continued their galaxy-wide extermination.

_That battle happened thirty-seven million years ago. They continued the cycle every fifty thousand years since then. And how many times did it happen _before_ Klendagon?_ She turned away from the projection a few seconds before it faded out and the Councilors and Admirals reappeared.

"There are many more records where this one came from," Dr. T'Lura said, "but I think these get the point across. The rest end the same way."

The people in the holofield remained silent for a few seconds. Admiral Raan wrung her hands. The two humans remained motionless, and Councilor Tevos gaped at something outside the holofield, presumably her own holo-display. Matriarch Lidanya rubbed her hands over her face.

"It took an entire fleet to destroy just one of those things. How can we expect to take on an entire _armada_ of them?" Lidanya narrowed her eyes. "It would've been nice to have _some_ support from the Council during the last two fucking years. _Some_ sort of preparations-"

Tevos winced. "In fairness to Councilor Anderson, he _did_ try. The rest of us ... "

"Were caught up in your own political agendas, as always. You denied the Reapers even existed, you shut Commander Shepard out and sent him on a clean-up mission against the geth who followed Sovereign, you never listened to a goddess-damned word he said no matter how many times he was proven right, and you pissed away the past two years instead of letting him help us prepare for the next wave." Lidanya sneered and shook her head. "Fuck me."

"We had no evidence that more of those things existed. No reason to believe that Sovereign was anything more than an advanced prototype dreadnaught built by the geth."

"Well, you have that evidence now," Shepard said, aiming a hard stare at the asari councilor. "You've seen the science team's report. They've determined how old most of the records and artifacts are. We all know the Reapers existed _long_ before the geth were created."

"All of that is in the past," Admiral Hackett said. "The only thing we can do now is figure out what to do going forward. That's what we have to focus on."

Tevos fell silent again. No one else spoke.

_They don't know what to do._ Lia shivered again. _None of them even know where to start._

Hackett finally broke the silence. "Dr. T'Lura, what else have you found? Anything at all that could at least point us in the right direction?"

"Well, there's the list of coordinates pointing to locations where other information depositories are stored. Those locations include several human, turian, and asari colonies, and even Thessia itself."

Lia glanced at the asari councilor. For a split-second, Tevos looked as if she were starting to wince, but she managed to keep her expression neutral.

"I saw that in the file Dr. T'Lura sent me. I'll be sure the matter is looked into."

Shepard arched an eyebrow.

"We all will," Hackett said. "I'll assign ships to scout the locations in Alliance space, and I recommend everyone else do the same in their own territory."

Councilor Anderson nodded. "I'll forward a copy of the files to the Turian Hierarchy as well. I know that's something Sparatus should do, but he's been the most ... resistant to this business with the Reapers. If we leave it to him, it may never get done."

Tevos flicked a sharp glance to the side, but regained her composure almost instantly. "Regardless, I've already forwarded copies to him and Councilor Valern as well."

"Good. Something we should also consider is an amendment to the Treaty of Farixen to authorize an increase in the production of dreadnaughts for each Citadel species."

"That's a troubling thought."

"If we don't, then when the Reapers hit us, we'll wish we _had_."

"I'm still not entirely convinced the Reapers are a legitimate threat, given the age of these records. They may not even exist anymore."

"Fuck's sake," Zaeed said under his breath while sneering and shaking his head. If Tevos noticed, she didn't let it show.

"If we build more dreadnaughts and don't need them to repel a galactic invasion," she continued, "there's too high a risk of the ships being used for improper purposes."

Anderson sighed. "We have to begin trusting each other sooner or later."

"If I may make a suggestion," Tali said, "the extra dreadnaughts, if they're not needed, can be converted into research and exploration ships, or troop carriers, or hospital ships. Or any number of other uses. Or simply mothballed until they're needed."

"I suppose it's worth considering," Tevos said after letting a silence stretch out for several seconds.

"Good." Anderson released another slow breath.

"The archive also contains information on species that were wiped out by the Reapers," Dr. T'Lura added. "Including advanced technology-weapons and ships and propulsion systems. I'd recommend having research teams go over these and see if any of it can be adapted to our tech. Even if we don't need to use it against the Reapers, some of it could still prove useful. You never know when some bit of lost alien tech can improve weapon efficiency or cure a disease for which we only have palliatives."

Anderson nodded. "Since your team is already investigating this archive, I assume you'd like to continue as more of these depositories are found?"

"We would. Thank you for offering."

"We'll put together more research teams and have them coordinate with yours, then. You'll be in charge of the entire group."

T'Lura gaped at him. When she recovered, she beamed and bowed her head. "Thank you, Councilor."

Admiral Shala'Raan turned to glance at something off-screen. "I'm afraid the Migrant Fleet doesn't have any ships to spare for the search for these depositories, but we'll investigate when we're near enough to one of the planets on this list. The ones we're allowed to land on, at least."

"We appreciate any help you can provide, Admiral Raan," Shepard said with a glance at Tevos and Lidanya. "If anyone gives you a hard time, let me know I'll have a talk with them. I hope we can all come to an agreement."

"Well, I certainly have no problem with it if Shepard has no problem with it." Lidanya crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "Shepard and the Alliance fleet not only saved the Council and everyone on the Citadel two years ago, they saved my ship and the ten thousand people under my command. We all owe a debt to them, and to everyone who died in the battle. Shepard, Admiral Hackett, Admiral Raan, whatever the Council decides, you have my support. I'll do everything I can to assist."

"Thank you." Shepard smiled and nodded.

"It's very much appreciated, Captain," Hackett added.

"I, and the Flotilla, are grateful, Captain Lidanya."

"Some sets of coordinates indicate information depositories in the Terminus Systems," Weyland said, and Admiral Raan twitched slightly. "None of the Citadel governments has jurisdiction there."

Shepard nodded. "That's very true. Since I've been working mostly in the Terminus Systems after I was reinstated as a Spectre, and the _Normandy_ isn't affiliated with the Alliance _or_ Cerberus, we'll be able to poke around there without causing any blowback." He sighed. "However, we can't be in more than one place at a time, and an urgent matter has come up which needs our attention. Since the past two years have been wasted, we need to investigate these leads as quickly as possible."

"Hmm." Tali crossed her arms over her chest and appeared to ponder the matter. "I have an idea. Admiral Raan, if any quarians on Pilgrimage happen to be near any of those Terminus Systems depositories, maybe you can ask them to take a look? After all, they may find something that would make a useful gift to bring back to the Fleet and complete their Pilgrimage."

"That's a good idea. I'll find out if we have anyone in the Terminus Systems and forward your request."

"Thank you."

_Oh, this is promising._ Lia smiled. _If I could find one of those depositories, and if there's something the Migrant Fleet could use, I could finally complete my Pilgrimage. Then I could finish out my IndentuTech contract without that added pressure. Maybe I should bring it up to-_

Malcolm stepped forward and motioned at Weyland, Yutani, and Chula. "I just had an idea. If the _Sulaco_'s crew is available, maybe they'd be willing to search for a few of these depositories." He aimed a lopsided grin at Chula. "If they're, shall we say, properly funded for the mission."

"I'm afraid tensions with the Terminus Systems are too high," Hackett said. "We can't hire someone to go in there for the same reason we couldn't intervene when the Collectors were abducting human colonies. It's outside Alliance and Citadel territory."

"Hmm. Okay, Plan B." Malcolm turned to Dr. T'Lura. "I have a few connections through my business, and they have their own connections. Would you mind if I check around and see if we can pull together some money to fund an expedition into the Terminus Systems?" He glanced at Chula and the geth. "This way, we'll be able to hire you to search for the depositories, or provide transportation and protection for an archaeological team. If it's privately funded, there won't be any ties back to any government or military organization."

Both geth platforms cocked their heads at Chula. She nodded.

"That definitely has potential."

"Agreed," Weyland said. "Malcolm, inform us when you need our services. If we are not already engaged in other operations, we will assist you."

"Awesome. Thanks." Malcolm grinned.

So did Lia. _I didn't think it possible, but my Pilgrimage may have just gotten even _more_ interesting._

#

"Tali'Zorah, may I speak with you for a moment?" Chula stepped aside so everyone else could file out of the briefing room. "In private?"

"Certainly." Tali joined her against the wall and waited for the rest of the group to pass by. She grasped Shepard's hand and he paused. "I'll catch up with you in a few minutes, okay?"

"Sure. Dr. Chakwas, Mordin, and I are meeting up with Dr. Michel in her clinic."

"Okay, I'll see you there, then." Tali nodded and turned to Chula. "Follow me to Engineering. There's a nice, quiet spot near the drive core that's good for conversation. The thrum of the core helps mask voices, and it's a rather soothing sound."

"Cool. Lead the way." Chula stuck her hands into her pockets and followed Tali through Mordin's lab to the elevator at the rear of the CIC. Tali tapped the icon for the Engineering deck on the control panel and the doors slid shut. Chula leaned back against the wall and said, "Hell of a ship you've got here."

"It certainly is. Say what you want about Cerberus, they do know how to build a ship."

"I've only heard bits and pieces about the _Normandy_'s recent mission, so I don't know the whole deal. I find it interesting that there are so many aliens on a ship built by human supremacists."

"That surprised me as well, at first. But soon after I first came onboard this ship, I saw what we were up against, and realized how much Cerberus wanted to stop the Collectors." Tali crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. "It still bugs me to admit that Cerberus was willing to bring aboard the best people for the job even if they were aliens, and actively do something about the threat, while the Council refused to intervene and the Systems Alliance turned their back on the colonies their own people had set up." Tali chuckled as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "I was pretty cold toward the crew at first, but I got to know them over the next few months, and they're actually good people. It wasn't that much of a surprise when they gave Cerberus the heave-ho."

"Glad to hear it." Chula followed her out of the elevator and paused to stare through the huge window overlooking the cargo bay. In one corner, beside a stack of metal containers, sat an M-44 Hammerhead hovercraft. On the opposite side, near the center of the wall, sat a UT-47 Kodiak shuttle.

"That looks like a sweet ride," Chula said, motioning at the Hammerhead.

Tali nodded. "I like it more than the old Mako we had on the original _Normandy_. The Mako was tougher and better armed, but none of us enjoyed riding in it. Don't tell Shepard I said this, but he could never drive the thing in a straight line. I usually ended up needing anti-nausea meds after our little planetary explorations."

"Heh. From what I've heard, those things make for a rough ride no matter who's driving it. Dakka said the Mako is the only thing in the galaxy capable of making a krogan vomit."

Tali laughed and led her down the corridor to the right, around a right turn, and through a door to a console. "The Hammerhead is a much less nerve-wracking ride, but it doesn't have kinetic barriers and its armor is too light for my taste. Only a few hits can cause severe damage. It does have some impressive autorepair systems, but you have to get it out of the line of fire for a few moments to give them time to work."

"Hmm. Not much of a trade-off just for a smoother ride."

"My thoughts exactly." Tali checked a display, tapped a couple of controls, and continued past the panels. Standing at another console a few meters away, a human man and woman glanced up, smiled, and waved.

"Hiya, Chief," the man said in an intriguing accent.

"Hey, Tali," the woman said.

"Hi, guys." Tali motioned at Chula. "This is Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco. Chula, this is Kenneth Donnelly and Gabriella Daniels. They're on my Engineering team. We're going over some ideas for upgrading the Hammerhead's armor and installing shield generators."

"Nice." Chula tipped her hat. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kenneth said.

"We're just going to talk over a few things. I'll be back at my post in a moment."

"Not a problem, Boss," Gabriella said. "We've got it under control."

Tali gave them a thumbs-up and led Chula down a walkway on the left to another set of consoles. Beyond the rail at the end, the enormous spherical drive core hummed and throbbed.

"So," Chula said, "a quarian is the chief engineer on a Cerberus ship?"

"Heh. Shepard said he wanted the best person for the job." Tali shrugged and a hint of a sheepish grin was barely visible through her visor.

"Did that make things tense? I mean, with a Cerberus crew ... "

"I expected a lot of resistance at first, just because of who they worked for, but I was pleasantly surprised. Kenneth and Gabby didn't make a fuss at all. It was like they didn't even notice I was an alien." Tali shrugged again. "For so many years, I always thought of Cerberus as just another enemy. Then I met a few of them and discovered they were genuinely good people. I've even come to consider some of them friends, like Kenneth and Gabby."

"Glad to hear that. Gives me a little hope that maybe, someday, maybe everyone will figure out how to get along with each other." Chula laughed softly. "What you said about these former Cerberus crew members reminds me of how my feelings toward the geth are changing. At first I was terrified of them, but suspicious enough to stick around when they asked me to join them. They saved my life before that, and several more times since then. It surprised the hell out of me, but they seem to genuinely want to coexist peacefully with organics. Even with _us_."

"Yes, I've begun to reach the same conclusion, as difficult as it is to accept." Tali faced the drive core, leaned on the rail, and sighed. "It's more than a little unsettling to realize you're a bigot, and begin the slow process of overcoming it."

"It certainly is. After observing Weyland and Yutani since we met, well, what I've seen flies in the face of everything I was raised to believe."

"Exactly. When I found out that the new _Normandy_ had an AI onboard, my blood ran cold. But EDI has been polite and helpful since the beginning, and has gone out of her way to help us." Tali chuckled. "Joker was even more hostile toward her than I was, at first, but they've actually grown quite close."

"I noticed that when we boarded. It's kind of adorable."

"It is, isn't it?" Tali faced her again. "And when we found Legion on that derelict Reaper and Shepard insisted we bring it onto the _Normandy_ and reactivate it, I was _furious_. I wondered if he'd gone insane. But despite a rocky start, I have to admit Legion has worked with us, fought alongside us, helped us stop the Collectors, and is continuing to support us. Until recently, I wanted us to retake our homeworld by force, but lately I've started hoping we can find a better way to return to Rannoch."

"Especially with what's at stake now."

"Exactly."

"Weyland and Yutani have made it clear that they realize what will happen if we don't all stop hating and fearing each other. I think they're just as afraid of the Reapers as we are, as much as a synthetic can be afraid of anything, at least. Which brings me to what I wanted to talk to you about. We recently learned something that could possibly spark off a shooting war between the geth and quarians, but Weyland and Yutani haven't sent the information back to the rest of the geth. They're waiting to learn more-giving us a chance to find out what's really going on, instead of retaliating immediately."

"What?" Tali glanced sharply at her, eyes widening, and just stared. "What do you mean?"

"Since I joined them, the geth have been sending a ship periodically to deliver food, medicine, and other supplies from Rannoch, just for me at first, but for Lia also, now. We've been meeting the supply ship way out in space, between star systems, so they wouldn't frighten anyone. But recently, someone managed to track down the ship and attack it before our scheduled rendezvous. We found the ship floating dead in space, boarded it, and found nothing but dead geth units. Found the last entry in the flight recorder, played it back, and ... _shit_. They were attacked by a stealth ship. It didn't show up on their sensors, and wasn't visible on any of the exterior cameras."

"Who was it? Pirates? Wait-no, you said this could set off a war between-oh, _Keelah_!"

"Yeah. The stealth ship was crewed by quarians. They boarded the ship and massacred the entire crew. We're talking hundreds of geth runtimes in each platform, plus all the geth in the ship's servers. The quarians murdered all of them."

"No ... " Tali glanced around and wrung her hands. "If the geth decide to retaliate, we won't have a chance."

"That's exactly what I'm worried about. Valeria already promised to look into it, but it couldn't hurt to approach the matter from another angle at the same time. If you know anyone in the Conclave or on the Admiralty Board who can look into this, I'd owe you and them more than I could ever repay."

"No, you wouldn't. Whoever perpetrated this attack could get our entire species wiped out. We actually owe _you_ for bringing this to our attention." Tali sighed and crossed her arms over her chest again. "I do know of a few people who want to start a war with the geth, and I know another who tried to screw with the geth in a different way and got an entire ship's crew killed, including my father."

"Oh, hell. I'm sorry."

Tali nodded slowly and took a moment to pull herself together. "Do you have anything I can bring to the Board? Copies of those recordings, or something similarly solid?"

"I've got them on my Omni-Tool. Everything from the geth ship's flight recorder."

"Good." Tali activated her Tool and set it to receive the files. "This could be _catastrophic_ for our people. I'll look into it immediately-and I know just who to contact first."

#

"You can use this console." Shepard waved a hand at one of the panels lining the CIC's wall. "EDI can connect you to whoever you need to call."

"Perfect." Malcolm grinned and rubbed his hands together. "Thanks!"

Benny gave him a quick kiss and pointed at the airlock. "Goresk and I are going to tag along with the others to the clinic. We'll meet you there."

"Sure thing, babe." Malcolm smiled, nodded at Goresk, and turned back to the console.

Lia smiled as she stood at the edge of the group, unsure of what to do except wait for Chula. Despite the gloom and doom that had permeated the conference, at least people in key positions were finally taking action after letting the past two years slip by.

Shepard walked over to Yeoman Chambers's station. "Shore leave for the crew while we're here-and that includes you. The last several times we docked anywhere, you didn't leave the ship."

"I ... had a lot of work to do." Chambers glanced away and rubbed her arms, as if feeling a sudden chill. "And ... honestly ... I haven't really felt up to being around crowds. After what we went through with the Collectors and everything-"

"I understand, Kelly, but isolating yourself like this isn't healthy. Maybe you could head out to one of the parks and just relax. A little peace and quiet in that kind of setting can do a lot of good." He smiled. "Captain's orders."

Kelly managed a brief chuckle. "Well, since you put it that way, I guess I have no choice. Sitting among some nice scenery does sound appealing, now that I think about it."

"I was hoping you'd agree." Shepard wiggled his eyebrows. "Maybe you can talk Garrus into joining you."

Kelly blushed and Shepard grinned.

"Anyway, standard rotation for shore leave. You know the drill. Just don't leave yourself out of it again."

"Okay." Kelly smiled.

So did Lia. She glanced around, found Garrus speaking with Mordin, and watched him turn and walk past Shepard and Kelly. Kelly's smile brightened as he walked by, and Lia noticed that he'd passed closer than necessary, close enough for his shoulder to brush hers ever so slightly.

Kelly's face flushed even more and she cleared her throat before turning back to Shepard. "Um, if it's okay with you, I'd actually like to be in the first group out."

Shepard stepped back and waved a hand at the airlock. "Be my guest."

"Thank you."

Shepard grinned as she hurried after Garrus.

The door behind Lia opened and she glanced over her shoulder to find Chula and Tali entering the CIC. They exchanged a few comments, then Chula walked over to Lia and Tali joined Shepard. All of them headed for the airlock.

Dr. T'Lura's team caught up with them. T'Lura stifled a yawn and rubbed her hands over her face.

"I'm heading back to the lab to see what else we can find out. Anybody want to join me?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a good meal and a few hours of sleep." Dr. Bilson chuckled.

"Yeah, I'll probably end up falling asleep in the lab. Wouldn't be the first time that's happened."

Dr. Nyxeria glanced over her shoulder and laughed softly. "Poor Grunt. Did you see the way he was looking at you, Raena? I think he's smitten."

"I ran into him the last time he was on the Citadel. He tried to hit on me." T'Lura grinned and shook her head. "He's a cute kid, but his romantic technique has all the subtlety of one of those giant squids on Virmire that reproduce by tearing the female's belly open and ejaculating into the wound."

"_Yow_," Chula blurted. Shepard scrunched up his face and shook as he tried to hold in a laugh.

The outer hatch opened and the group filed into the docking bay and split up. T'Lura's team returned to their lab, Valeria and Irving and Kurakova headed for C-Sec, and the rest made their way to Huerta Memorial Hospital and Dr. Michel's clinic. When they arrived at the clinic, Dr. Michel had just walked up to the door.

"Oh! Hello, everyone. You timed this perfectly. I was just returning from a late breakfast." She glanced around at the group and beamed when her gaze landed on Garrus. "Hey, it's really good to see you again!"

"Doctor, how have you been?"

"Please, call me Chloe." She smiled and unlocked the clinic's front door. "I've been well. Concerned about you, though. I missed you the last several times you were on the Citadel, and you never replied to any of my messages."

"Sorry about that, um, Chloe." Garrus shrugged and glanced away. "We had a lot going on."

"I've heard bits and pieces of it. Just enough to be really thankful that you survived." Michel opened the door and motioned everyone inside. "I'm actually hoping you and I can catch up sometime. Maybe over lunch?"

Garrus stared at her and his mandibles quivered. He glanced at Kelly and cleared his throat.

"Uh, well, actually, um-"

"Oh." Michel's smile did a quick fade. "Sorry. I didn't know-"

"Well, it's, um ... " Garrus flicked a pleading glance at Shepard, as if to say, "Come on, help me out, here."

Kelly grinned and shrugged as they stepped through the door. "Actually, I don't mind sharing him."

"Oh." Michel's face brightened again. "Lunch for three, then?"

Garrus stumbled. His eyes opened wider and his mouth flopped open.

Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Garrus, did you just trip on the _floor_?"

"Sounds good." Kelly smiled and walked alongside Michel as they passed through the front office. "I remember reading about you in a few reports on the original _Normandy_'s mission. Been wanting to get acquainted for quite a while, actually."

Garrus stared at them and blinked several times. "Shepard, what just happened?"

Tali laughed. "Looks to me like you hit the jackpot."

_Wow._ Lia chuckled, glanced at Chula, and nodded at the far end of the corridor. "I'm going to go see how Kenn and Sidonis are doing."

"Sidonis?" Garrus turned abruptly. "What's that son of a bitch doing _here_?"

"Uh." Lia sucked in a sharp breath. _Uh-oh._

"He's not causing any trouble," Chula said. "Just the opposite, in fact."

"Yeah." Dakka pointed at the door leading to Huerta Memorial. "He saved someone's life on Omega, and now he's hanging around to make sure the kid's okay. I'd like to talk to you a bit more about that if you have a spare moment later on."

"Hmm. _This_ ought to be good." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"In a nutshell, Sidonis knows he can never make up for what he did to your team on Omega, but he intends to keep trying. I know you're busy now, but I can explain it in detail later."

"Alright. I'm curious enough to hear what you have to say."

"Good. We'll be around. Let me know when you're ready to talk."

Garrus nodded, turned, and strode through the office.

"Keelah," Lia muttered. "Well, I'll catch up with you all later."

"Sure." Chula patted Lia's shoulder. Lia smiled, but it faded as soon as she walked off down the corridor. She drew in a deep breath and let it rush out.

_Aw, shit._


	23. Chapter 23

"So, what do you make of this? Is it 'indoctrination?'" Dr. Michel leaned back in her chair and watched as Dr. Chakwas finished reading the file on her tablet. Chakwas passed it to Mordin, who read the file in mere seconds and handed it back to Michel.

"Unlikely. Exposure too brief. Symptoms not indicative of indoctrinated behavior." Mordin cocked his head. "Brainwave patterns different from known victims."

Chula glanced around Michel's office. Chakwas and Mordin sat in front of Michel's desk, with Commander Shepard directly behind them. Malcolm Takahashi and Goresk stood behind him, and Chula leaned against the wall in the corner with her hands in her pockets.

"Kolos was only exposed to the artifact for a few seconds," Goresk said. "So were all the others, but that was enough to drive them to suicide. If the team from the _Sulaco_ hadn't arrived when they did, he would've blown his own head off like all the others."

"What we've seen of the Reapers' indoctrination process takes a few hours to set in and doesn't cause instant suicidal urges," Chakwas said, and Mordin nodded.

"Hallucinations, headaches, paranoia, feelings of being watched, worship of Reapers in final stages. Victims lose ability to think for themselves. Become mindless puppets. Effects irreversible."

Shepard shook his head slowly. "We found some salarian soldiers on Virmire two years ago, while tracking down Saren. They were test subjects, kept in cells in a laboratory. Several of them just stood there, staring straight ahead, even after we opened the door for them. Their minds were completely _gone_. In another cell, one of them kept babbling about voices whispering to him. When I wouldn't let him out, he hurled himself into the door with enough force to knock himself out."

_Shit._ Chula shivered.

Chakwas glanced at Shepard and pointed at the tablet. "The brainwave patterns there are similar to yours after your encounter with the Prothean beacon on Eden Prime."

"So the artifact was a memory-storage device like the beacon?"

"Not Prothean," Mordin said. "Artifacts on Bekenstein far older than beacon. Similar function. Recorded memories transferred into recipient."

Goresk sighed. "From what Kolos was babbling about, it sounds like a memory of a civilization falling to the Reapers. It drove him insane. He kept going on about something coming for us all and how we're all doomed."

"When the beacon shoved that vision into my mind two years ago, it nearly killed me." Shepard grimaced.

"The recording was encoded specifically for Prothean minds," Chakwas said. "If the commander wasn't as strong-willed as he is, it probably _would've_ killed him."

"Hmm." Malcolm glanced at her and then Goresk. "So, was Kolos's brain unable to handle the transfer, or was the vision itself such a shock that his cork popped?"

"Could've overwhelmed him, emotionally." Goresk shrugged. "He was nearly paralyzed by despair, grief, and terror."

Another chill rippled through Chula's chest. _I know this information could be important, but if I hear much more, I might never sleep well again._

"I'll keep him for observation until we have a better handle on this. Once he's lucid enough, he may be able to describe the vision more clearly." Michel glanced at Goresk. "Unless he has family who'd want him sent back to Khar'shan for treatment?"

"I don't know if he has any family or not. The Batarian Hegemony has the whole planet locked down so tight, you probably couldn't contact them." He shrugged again. "I'm pretty sure he'd receive better care here, anyway."

"We'll do everything we can for him."

Mordin stood. "Keep us updated. Would like to examine artifacts. Go over details with Dr. T'Lura's team. Much to learn. Fascinating."

"I'll continue working with Dr. Michel while we're here," Chakwas said.

Chula pushed away from the wall and nudged her hat into a slightly different angle. "I think I'll report in to my captains and check on Lia and Sidonis." She managed a quick chuckle. "Between this and the meeting a while ago, I believe I've got enough nightmare fuel to last a month or two, anyway."

Shepard's Omni-Tool beeped. Its interface appeared around his left arm and he raised an eyebrow. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder and said, "I'll take this in the foyer. Carry on."

Chula nodded at everyone and walked ahead of him. The foyer was still empty. Shepard sighed, tapped a button on his Tool, and aimed a wary gaze at the asari who appeared on its interface.

"Aria."

_Huh. Aria T'Loak?_ Chula hurried to the door. The "queen" of Omega was one of the reasons she'd been so eager to leave the entire Omega Nebula after the rescue of Kenn and Sidonis ended with a hangar door blown clean off.

_"Shepard, I've got some news that should make your day. Are you alone?"_

"I am." Shepard smirked and Chula stopped at the door. If she opened it now, the Tool would pick up the sound.

_"I've just heard about your meeting with two of the Councilors, Lidanya, and a couple of admirals."_

Both of Shepard's eyebrows shot upward. "How did you find out about that? It wasn't even that long ago."

_"I have my sources. You'll be happy to know that the Council will be much more cooperative from now on."_

"Really? And why is that?"

_"I know something Sparatus and Tevos won't want to become common knowledge."_ Aria chuckled. _"Goddamn kinky, those two."_

Shepard's brow furrowed. "Yeah, I'll probably sleep better if I don't know what kinds of things politicians get up to when they're off the clock."

_"It's actually pretty funny. A little over a year ago, Sparatus paid a hooker to fuck his wife while he sat there and watched. I'm assuming he was planning on getting sloppy-seconds. Kinda creepy, but whatever. Turns out Tevos has employed the same hooker on occasion. That's scandalous enough, but the worst part is, he's underage. They won't want that getting out."_

_Holy shit._ Chula folded her arms over her chest and leaned on the wall.

Shepard stared at his Omni-Tool interface. "Um. Yep, I was better off not knowing any of that."

_"Hah. I never intended to make them stop. It's not really my concern. Hell, if the kid operated on Omega, I'd probably fuck him just to find out if he lives up to the word-of-mouth I've been hearing. But I've just finished a conversation with Tevos and Sparatus, during which I made _damned_ sure they know the consequences of continuing their stubborn bullshit. If they don't stop blocking you and start giving you whatever you need, I'll make sure Emily Wong, Khalisah al-Jilani, Battletits, and every other journalist with a modicum of influence are _all over_ both of them like flies on a week-old corpse."_

Chula had to hold her breath to suppress a burst of laughter.

Shepard continued staring with his mouth hanging open slightly.

_"I've been sitting on this information for over a year, waiting for something worth using it on. Act grateful."_

"I _am_ grateful. I can't help wondering why you're doing this, though."

_"I've learned a lot about the Reapers since you first turned up on Omega. I don't care all that much about the rest of the galaxy, but if they invade and nobody's ready to stop them, I'm just as dead as everyone else."_

"Fair point. Thanks for the help."

_"You owe me one, Shepard."_ Aria cut the connection and Shepard's Omni-Tool faded out.

"Huh. That wasn't at _all_ what I expected to hear. Still, I'll take it."

"No kidding. I haven't had any direct experience with the Council, but from what little I've seen, I doubt you would've gotten them to cooperate without something like this coming out of nowhere. Those guys have their heads so far up their asses, they can lick their own tongues."

Shepard burst into laughter, snorted, and then took a few breaths. "That's pretty accurate. At first it was a minor annoyance, but it's gotten to the point where it's endangering the lives of everyone in the galaxy. I really do owe Aria for this." He raised an eyebrow at Chula. "It has to stay in this office for obvious reasons."

"What has to stay?" Chula pointed at the side of her helmet and laughed. "I didn't hear a fuckin' thing."

"Much appreciated." Shepard grinned.

Chula smiled and tipped her hat before reaching for the door control. _Heh. The galaxy may have just been saved by a crime boss on Omega. I love it._

#

"Interesting place for a conversation," Quint said as he, Dakka, Garrus, Kelly Chambers, and Magnum stepped through the door into the target range.

"I come to places like this to think." Dakka grinned and rubbed her hands together.

"Heh. So do I, every now and then," Garrus said.

"When you're not busy calibrating the _Normandy_'s guns." Kelly winked at him and picked up a set of auditory dampeners from the rack on the wall. Everyone else grabbed a set, activated the mics, and locked them on the same private channel.

"So, what's the story with Sidonis?" Garrus led them through the door, picked a booth, pulled the sniper rifle from his back, and tapped a control on the panel to his left. A target silhouette dropped down from the ceiling at the far end of the range.

_Right down to business. Okay._ Dakka stepped into the booth beside his, ordered a target, and watched it descend into place. In the corner of her eye, Quint took the adjacent booth, and Magnum chose the slot past his.

"We were on Omega recently. Not for anything specific, just looking around for a quick job or two. We overheard Sidonis sending out a call for help over the PA system. Turns out he'd run into a bunch of thugs beating the crap out of a quarian kid on his Pilgrimage. He rescued the kid, tried to get him away from the goons, but they chased him and Kenn into one of the shuttle bays and cornered them there."

"Hmm. I remember Shepard mentioning a quarian named Kenn a while back. Said he was running a salvage shop, trying to save up enough money for a ticket off Omega, but was just barely staying afloat. Shepard gave him a thousand credits for the ticket." Garrus squeezed his M-29 Incisor's trigger and put a three-round burst through the center of the target's head.

Behind him, Kelly raised both eyebrows, grinned, and slipped an arm around his waist.

"Yeah. He got mugged on the way to the docking port. They stole the thousand credits and he ended up right back where he started."

"Oh, the poor kid," Kelly said.

"Yeah, he's been having a rough time." Dakka lifted her huge rotary cannon from her back, pointed it at the target, and blasted it into molten pieces with a one-second burst.

Garrus and Kelly leaned into view, peeking around the partition between their booth and Dakka's. Both of them gaped at her gun.

"That's ... pretty impressive," Garrus finally said. "Not too precise, though."

"Hmm. Good point." Dakka linked the gun's targeting system to her visor, ordered a new target, and twitched the trigger. A single round drilled into the target's head. She popped off another twenty shots over the next few seconds and touched a button on the panel. The target slid up to her booth and she smirked at the pattern of holes she'd punched through it-two eyes and a sneering mouth.

Garrus opened his eyes a little wider before shifting them from the target to Dakka. "Heh. _Nice_."

"Thanks." She ordered a fresh target, hung the gun on her back, and plucked the Claymore shotgun from her right hip. "Anyway, Sidonis returned to Omega after you let him go, and I guess he was trying to figure out how to atone for what he did to your team. Just before we got there, he found those guys working the quarian kid over, and saved his ass. Then we ended up saving both of theirs."

"If you ever hear about a hangar door being blown off Omega and a bunch of mercs being spaced," Quint said, "that was us."

"Huh." Garrus's gaze drifted off to point at nothing in particular. "Well, I guess it's good that life keeps surprising me."

"I don't know the details of what happened between you and Sidonis, but he's trying to make up for it. He almost got himself killed saving Kenn."

Garrus stared for a few more seconds before focusing on her again. "When I tracked him down here on the Citadel, I had Shepard draw him out so I could get a clear shot at him. Shepard blocked my line of fire, but there were a couple of moments when I had Sidonis in my sights. I could've blown his head off easily." He closed his eyes and sighed. "But I just couldn't pull the trigger, even though I thought I'd convinced myself that he deserved it and I could live with it."

"Well, if you'd killed him, he wouldn't have been there to save Kenn. The kid probably would've died that day."

Garrus's eyes snapped back to her and his mandibles twitched. "Huh. That's a good point." He sighed. "Ah, hell. I guess you just never know, huh? You set out for revenge, and not only does it not bring your dead friends back to life, it might actually prevent your target from doing some good later on."

"Yeah. Well, you run into people now and then who'll _never_ do anything but harm others, but you can tell from talking with someone like Sidonis that what he did was a mistake, not a deliberate act."

"Yeah. Shepard only spoke with him for a minute or two, but that was enough to give me some serious doubts. I thought the situation was more black-and-white than it turned out to be. Like I told Shepard, I don't know what to do with gray."

"Well, you gave him a second chance, and he's not wasting it."

"I'm glad to hear that." Garrus let out another slow breath, gave Kelly's hand a pat, and turned back to the panel to order another target. "For what it's worth, I hope things work out for him."

#

"Ah, there you are." Bailey stood from his desk as Valeria, Irving, and General Kurakova stepped through the entrance into Citadel Security Headquarters. He handed a tablet over to Valeria. "I think you'll find the info here, well, pretty goddamned disturbing."

"After what I saw this morning, that's saying a lot." Valeria skimmed through the text on the tablet. Her jaw dropped and her mandibles spread apart in surprise. _Holy shit._ "Well, I was expecting to spend the rest of the day dragging information out of Elias Kelham, but this looks pretty thorough."

"All my guys had to do was tell him that Arana Nelvos had just arrived to avenge her husband by killing Kelham and his entire family, and he spilled _everything_ in exchange for placing his family into witness protection." Bailey grinned. "He didn't even argue the charges against him. Entered an immediate guilty plea on all of 'em. I guess he figured the deeper his cell is buried, the safer he'll be from Nelvos and her Eclipse division." His grin shifted into a smirk. "We neglected to tell him about your friend talking Nelvos down and convincing her to let the court handle it."

"Just a minor oversight." Valeria chuckled. "It's good to have all this intel _and_ know Kelham will still get the prison sentence he deserves for everything he's done." Valeria ran through the file again and shivered. "So, Cerberus really was getting ready to stage a coup on the Citadel."

"Yeah, they'd taken over Kelham's operation and were working their way into several other criminal organizations. Seems Cerberus has spread itself so thin lately, it's looking for new recruits as well as new resources and funding. If they could take control of the Citadel-well, it's a long shot, but I don't like thinking about how things would've turned out if they'd pulled it off." Bailey sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "They sure had _me_ by the balls. Thinking where they could've spread after getting a foothold in C-Sec is enough to give me nightmares."

"Same here, but you helped stop them, and your son is safe." Valeria put her hand on his shoulder for a moment and then pointed at the tablet. "Kelham made some disturbing remarks about Kai Leng. Says here he often stared at something only he could see, and looked as if he was listening to someone even when the room was otherwise empty. He talked about the Reapers on occasion, and spoke in a reverent tone about being prepared for their 'glorious arrival.'"

Kurakova turned and raised an eyebrow at Val. "Indoctrination?"

"Sounds like it, Nana." Valeria shook her head. "Makes my fucking carapace crawl. It's a good thing Dakka took him out."

"There's a bounty on Leng's head." Bailey nodded at the console on his desk. "If your friend sends proof that she's the one who killed him, I can transfer the reward to her."

"I'll let her know." Val continued perusing the file. "Hmm. This is interesting-Leng also talked about making a move against the Illusive Man."

"I'm not clear on who that is. Leng's boss, I assume?"

"He's the one who runs Cerberus. His real name's Jack Harper." She took a slow breath. "At least that means the Illusive Man hasn't been indoctrinated. He can still be useful. If Leng had been able to take over, the Reapers would've had control of Cerberus and all of its deep-cover agents."

"Hmm." Nana ran a finger over her chin. "You know what that means? The Reapers aren't invincible. As much as it took to bring Sovereign down two years ago, they _can_ be beaten. If they were unstoppable, they wouldn't need to brainwash people and infiltrate criminal organizations and governments."

"That's a good point. There's still hope." Val turned to Bailey and copied the file to her Omni-Tool before returning the tablet to him. "Thanks, Captain. Kelham is all yours."

"My pleasure." Bailey reached out to shake her hand. "We'll make sure his family is protected, and then we'll throw the book at him. He won't get away with killing Nelvos's husband, or any of the other crimes he committed."

"Glad to hear it. I hope we'll have a chance to work together again soon." Valeria clapped him on the shoulder. She turned to her husband and his grandmother as Bailey walked back to his desk. "I'll give Shepard a copy of the report. I'm sure he'll find it fascinating."

She slipped her hand into Irving's, ran the highlights of the report over in her head again, and shivered.

_I almost wish I didn't know about any of this. I was much happier when Irving and I were making porn vids for _Fornax_._

#

"Hello!"

Lia turned at the sound of Chula's voice and found her approaching with Commander Shepard alongside. Lia waved at them and stood, as did Sidonis.

"How is Kenn doing?" Chula glanced in the direction of the quarian kid's room.

"He's awake, last I heard. He has a lot of recovering to do, but he's well on his way. His family should be arriving shortly, so that should boost his spirits quite a lot."

"Glad to hear it." Chula reached out to pat Lia's shoulder.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out for Kenn," Shepard said.

"Omega is just that kind of place. I heard you tried to help him when you were there recently. I'm sure he's grateful for your effort."

"He's not the only one," Sidonis said. "I should thank you again for stopping Garrus, even though I deserved to get my head blown off."

"I'm just glad you were able to be there for Kenn. You may have saved his life."

"So am I. It's a start, at least."

Something behind Lia caught Shepard's eye and he smiled.

"It was good to see you again, but if you'll excuse me, I've got another friend to speak with."

"Of course." Lia nodded. "See you around, I hope. And thanks again for everything."

"Happy to help." He smiled again and walked over to a sharply-dressed drell who'd begun heading in their direction.

"Shepard," the drell said, "I apologize for missing the meeting."

"It's quite alright, Thane. The whole thing was recorded; you can play it back at your convenience. What matters is that you're okay."

"The doctors said my deterioration has slowed a bit, so the news was generally good. I'm still dying, but perhaps not as fast as I was before I started the new treatments."

Shepard nodded and put his hand on Thane's shoulder. "Is there anything I can do? Are you sure you want to continue working with me, given the circumstances?"

"The Collectors were merely tools of the true enemy. Our task is not finished yet. I intend to remain useful until the moment I depart this body, if it's at all possible." Thane's large, almost completely black eyes flicked toward the entrance to the waiting area. "I didn't recently begin to mend my relationship with my son just to lay down and finish dying while he and everything he holds dear are torn asunder."

"Excuse me," a soft asari voice said, and Lia tore her gaze from the commander and his friend.

"Yes?"

The asari nurse glanced from her to Chula. "I'm looking for Lia'Vael nar Ulnay."

"That's me. What can I do for you?"

"Kenn asked to speak with you. Uh, you and Lantar Sidonis and ... "The nurse glanced at a note on her Omni-Tool and then up at Chula. "Chula'Raalga vas Sulaco. I'm guessing that's you?"

"Yep. How's he doing?"

"Much better. He'll need to stay a while, but we expect him to make a full recovery."

"That's good to hear." Lia, Chula, and Sidonis followed the nurse across the waiting area. "I just hope he and his family won't have to turn themselves over to IndentuTech to pay off the costs of his medical treatment."

"Actually, that won't be necessary at all," the nurse said. "Someone has already arranged to cover all of his costs." She glanced at another note on her Tool. "Someone named Charles Bishop Weyland."

Lia and Chula glanced at each other.

_Weyland?_ Lia flicked her eyes around until she spotted Yutani standing at a kiosk near the huge windows. She wondered where the geth had gotten their hands on that much money. Maybe they had learned to play the stock market or had been hitting the casinos recently.

_Doesn't matter. At least Kenn won't have to worry himself sick over the costs._ Lia pulled her gaze away from Yutani and followed Chula through the door into Kenn's room. _Another gesture of goodwill from the geth. Huh._

"If you need anything, just call the nurses' station." The asari smiled, walked through the door, and closed it.

"Hello." Kenn's voice was a raspy mumble. "I'm told you three rescued me."

Sidonis nodded. "Well, us and the geth."

Kenn stared at him and his glowing eyes opened wider. "You mean th-the geth really were there? I-I thought-I thought I was hallucinating."

"Nope." Chula laughed softly. "Sidonis rescued you from those goons who were beating you up, then got into a bit of a pickle, and we happened along at just the right time. The two geth platforms you saw were real, and they're with us."

"Oh. Okay." Kenn shook his head slowly. "Holy shit."

"I know exactly how you must feel. It's a lot to take in-the geth helping us, I mean."

"My curiosity is definitely piqued. How did it happen?"

"Kind of a long story."

"Well, it'll be a few more hours before my family gets here, and I'm not going anywhere in the meantime. If you leave me in suspense, I might need to be sedated."

Lia laughed. "Okay. It's a hell of a story."

"Better start at the beginning, then." Ken waved a trembling hand at the chairs lined up along the wall behind them, and let it plop back to the mattress.

"Well." Lia pulled one of the chairs over and sat. "For me, it started on Illium, when I had to sell myself into indentured servitude to continue my Pilgrimage, and the geth bought my contract."

"What?" Ken stared at her. "The geth _own_ you?"

"Like I said, it's a hell of a story."

He stared at each of them for a long moment before settling his gaze back on Lia.

"No shit."


	24. Chapter 24

"We're almost there, kiddo." Rhoa's deep yet still feminine voice jolted Trent's attention away from his worries. She settled the car into a space in the parking lot, shut down the engine, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "You still seem spooked."

"Her message said it was an urgent matter, but she wouldn't tell me what it was about. So it's probably not a session." Trent ran a hand through his hair. "Damn, what if she's pregnant? I'm _not_ ready for that."

Rhoa laughed. "I think Councillor Tevos would know better than to initiate a pregnancy while she's still in office. At least, without being in a solid relationship first. Especially with a … what's your job called, these days? Personal escort?"

"People keep coming up with new euphemisms for it." Trent shrugged as he brushed a few stray hairs back into place and put his hand on the door handle. "Depends on the client, I guess. But you're probably right, she wouldn't subject herself to the kind of scandal she'd face if she got knocked up by a high-end hooker." His age would make it even worse, at least in places like the Citadel and Earth, where the laws didn't have the kind of wiggle room they had on Illium. Tevos was smart enough not to let that happen.

Besides, she'd never done that weird mind-meld thing with him. He couldn't really get his head around how asari sexuality and reproduction worked, but it was mostly mental, and if she'd chosen to become pregnant, he would've been aware of it the instant it happened. Most of their sessions hadn't amounted to much more than quiet conversations, holding hands or cuddling in front of the fireplace, sipping non-alcoholic drinks and watching the artificial sunset – quiet, relaxing things she'd needed to wash days or weeks worth of stress from her mind. The few times they'd actually had sex, it had been purely physical. So his worries of finding out he was about to become a daddy were merely a momentary panicked reaction.

"Exactly." Rhoa winked at him. "Maybe she's just had a really bad morning and needed a quick bang."

"Which I'll be more than happy to provide." He grinned and leaned toward her. She met him halfway and they kissed. They smiled at each other and got out of the car. Rhoa moved her head around to work a kink out of her thick neck and then stretched. She'd taken off her Eclipse armor before picking him up to avoid tipping off any potential witnesses that she was an active merc, and had put on tight cargo shorts and a muscle shirt. She also wore heavy boots in case she needed to deliver an ass-kicking.

Trent paused to watch her for a moment and grinned.

Most asari were slender and elegant, even those who worked for the military or merc corporations, but Rhoa was quite unlike any other he'd ever met. She was tall and broad-shouldered, with a thick waist, biceps nearly as big as his head, and thighs that looked like they could shatter a coconut. She'd always been fairly buff, but had started working extra hard to build up her muscles over the last couple of years. He wondered – not for the first time – if she'd started it after finding out he was attracted to muscular women.

She leaned against the car, gazed at the small park beyond the edge of the parking lot, and took a slow breath. She caught him staring at her and grinned, her teeth brilliant against her dark blue skin. She flexed her muscles and made a kissy face at him.

"Beautiful." He smiled.

"Better not keep your client waiting." Rhoa laughed softly and nodded at the cottage in the middle of the private park. "I'll be here if you need me."

"See you in a bit." Still grinning, he turned and entered the park. He followed the tidy gravel pathway running through a patch of trees to the cottage.

Rhoa had changed in other ways since she became his personal bodyguard. At first, she'd been cold, distant, almost bored even when taking advantage of the free sessions that came as part of the payment for her services. It had taken him a while to begin to understand why. Learning about the kinds of battles she'd been in, the people she'd killed, and having to commit a murder just to join Eclipse in the first place … it had explained a lot, once he'd gotten her to talk about her past.

But that first murder was four hundred years ago. She'd grown warm, gentle, and even playful in the last two years, making it hard to believe she was the same person back then.

He liked to think he was the main reason for the change, but it was probably spending those two years in a job that didn't require being shot at or killing anyone, and hardly ever put her in a position where she had to physically harm someone at all. It was probably just brought on by the relaxed atmosphere of her new gig.

He hopped up the front steps and onto the shaded porch. He reached out to the small hard-light panel beside the door, tapped the doorbell icon, and shifted mental gears to focus on Tevos. He turned to take a slow look around the flower garden and the surrounding trees, and smiled. _I love this place._ Even though it was located in a part of the Citadel populated mostly by asari, it was like having a calm, quiet little piece of Earth on the massive space station.

Quite a few asari – and many other aliens on the Citadel, for that matter – seemed to have a disdain for humanity, but while Tevos remained somewhat aloof in public, she'd once admitted to him that she'd acquired a fondness for certain parts of Earth and human cultures. She'd had this cottage and its surrounding park set up as a place for her to get away from politics and unwind. And, once a mutual acquaintance had introduced her to Trent, they'd used it for their occasional hookups.

_Hmm. Maybe someone found out what we've been doing here. Maybe that's the urgent matter._ He dismissed it a second later. _No, if that had happened, she wouldn't want to meet here again._

The door swung open. Trent knew by now that it was operated from a control panel in the living room so Tevos could stay out of sight, just in case. He stepped through, closed the door, and turned to the right.

"Hey, how're …?" He stopped and stared into the cozy room. Tevos usually waited on the sofa at the back wall, but this time she stood at the end of the wood coffee table, wearing a simple gold sweater with a flower pattern rather than her typical formal attire, to make herself harder to recognize.

A turian woman sat on the sofa. She wore a simple cloak with the hood concealing most of her face, but it wasn't hard to guess who she was.

Siana.

Councillor Sparatus's wife.

_What the hell?_ He never discussed his clients with his other clients, at least not in anything but the most general terms, such as mentioning to Lia'Vael that he had a frequent quarian client. One of them couldn't have found out about another unless they happened to be talking about a recent session and figured it out themselves.

_Well, at least that means it's not my fault._ He tried to force his startled expression away and replace it with a smile.

"Hello there, ladies. What's going on?"

"Good afternoon, Trent." Tevos glanced at the already tinted windows as if to double-check them, and then walked forward to greet him with a kiss. She motioned at the sofa and added, "You've already met Siana."

"Yes." Siana pulled the hood back and let it flop over her shoulders. "Trent introduced me to the medication that prevents anaphylactic shock when dextro-based species mate with levo-based ones." Siana chuckled. "He introduced me to many other things, as well."

Trent grinned and gave her a theatrical bow. He sat beside her, gave her a kiss, and put his hand on top of hers as he turned to raise an eyebrow at Tevos.

"I apologize for catching you off guard." Tevos sat on his other side, sandwiching him between her and Siana. "There was no way to warn you without bringing up details all three of us want kept quiet."

"I understand. Someone could've overheard you or seen you typing the message. The message could've been intercepted. All sorts of things could've happened."

"Exactly."

"Well, now that my pulse has returned to normal, what brings all three of us together?" He laughed and reached over to lace his fingers between hers.

"This." Tevos tapped a control panel on the coffee table's surface and sat back with a sigh. A holographic image appeared above the table and Trent's heart twitched as he found himself staring at an image of him and Siana having sex, with Sparatus clearly visible in the background.

_Someone recorded us._ Trent flicked a glance at Siana and Tevos, and tried to keep his breathing steady. _Uh-oh._

#

"Well, Kenn certainly has quite a story to tell his family when they arrive," Chula said as she, Lia, and Sidonis stepped out of the young quarian's room and into the corridor.

"Heh. I wonder if they'll think a lot of it was a fever-dream or something brought on by the pain medication. They'll probably never believe a geth helped save his life." Lia chuckled. "Well, I just hope he has a speedy recovery and gets his Pilgrimage back on track right away."

"Maybe when he's well enough to leave the hospital," Sidonis said, "he could search for one of the information depositories you mentioned a while ago. Might at least give him a direction to start off in and see what else he discovers along the way."

"Hmm, that's a good idea." Chula stuck her hands into her pockets as the three of them strolled into Huerta Memorial's huge admissions lobby. "He may not be too eager to go back into the Terminus Systems after being stuck there for so long and taking a shotgun blast to the side on the way out, and I wouldn't want to suggest it for the same reason. And in Citadel space, he probably wouldn't be allowed to land and poke around anywhere just because he's a quarian."

"Maybe he could join one of the research teams that are being put together," Lia said. "He could pilot their shuttle or drive a ground vehicle when they land. And handle on-the-spot repairs if an emergency comes up. Maybe even find unconventional ways to get past obstacles like locked doors and whatnot."

"That could work. We can run the idea by Malcolm and Dr. T'Lura and see if it goes anywhere." Chula's Omni-Tool beeped softly as they reached the far end of the room and filed through the door. She checked the first of the messages that had just come through and burst out laughing. "Oh, this is awesome. I just heard from Jondum Bau – the salarian Spectre who was rooting for me during my sparring match with Tela Vasir. He's just learned that I fractured her pelvis when I ended the fight."

Sidonis winced. "That's kind of horrifying. But I've heard of Vasir. She probably had it coming."

"She _did_." Chula pushed her hat forward slightly. "The bitch picked the fight in the first place, then she sucker-punched me and started stomping me while I was down. Once I got back on my feet, I kicked her in the crotch as hard as I possibly could. Didn't realize I hit her hard enough to break bones, but finding out I did just makes the whole thing that much more satisfying." She smiled and loaded the next message as they reached the elevator. She leaned against the back wall, read it, and pushed herself upright abruptly. "Whoa."

"What is it?" Lia paused with her finger hovering over the control panel. "Has something else gone wrong already?"

"Tali'Zorah wants to see me and Valeria. I talked to her about the derelict ship we found. She said she'd do some checking around, and must've turned something up." She leaned over to select a specific level on the control panel.

"Ah, good. I hope it's resolved quickly." Lia selected another level. "I'll bring our idea to Malcolm and Dr. T'Lura while you're meeting with Tali'Zorah."

Chula nodded. "I'll let you know if she's found anything useful."

The elevator stopped on the floor Chula had selected. She stepped through the door, waved at Lia and Sidonis, and hurried through the corridors to the cafe Tali had directed her toward. She found the _Normandy_'s chief engineer and its captain occupying a table on the balcony at the far end of the cafe, overlooking a park with neatly trimmed bushes, hedges, and trees. The balcony jutted out over the park and the transparent floor offered a spectacular view. Commander Shepard held a cup of coffee in his left hand and held Tali'Zorah's hand in the other, while Tali sipped a sterilized drink from a straw through a protective membrane in her helmet.

Off to the left, Valeria and Irving emerged from the tables on the main floor. They spoke softly to each other, nuzzled each other's cheeks, and Irv headed for the counter. Valeria continued on to the balcony table, and Shepard nodded and motioned at one of the two vacant chairs.

Chula reached the table as Valeria sat.

"Hello again," Tali said. "My contact on the Admiralty Board had some information you two would be interested in."

"I hope it's not as unsettling as I'm expecting it to be." Chula plopped onto the remaining chair, slouched back slightly, and adjusted the angle of her hat.

"Thanks for exploring other avenues, by the way," Val said to Chula. "This'll give my investigation a big head start." Her Omni-Tool beeped and she twitched and silenced the alarm. "Sorry. Time for my medication." She pulled a small vial from her belt pouch, snapped the end off, and chugged the liquid inside. "Don't worry, I'm not sick or anything. It prevents many of the unfortunate reactions that can happen when a human and a turian … you know."

Tali nodded. "I've just recently discovered it and had Mordin whip up a prescription for me and one for Shepard. I need to keep taking other meds and supplements for my immune system problems, but this stuff works wonders for the dextro-levo issue." She nodded her helmet toward Shepard and one of her glowing eyes winked.

_Hmm. I should've thought of that._ Chula wasn't exactly a virgin, but she'd never taken off her envirosuit during the few times she'd had sex. The suit's neuro-stim system was awesome, but it was probably no substitute for the real thing. _I should run over to Dr. Michel's clinic and see if I can get my own prescription, then look up the consort Lia spent the night with next time we're on Illium._

"So," Val said, getting the conversation back on track, "what have you found?"

"I spoke with Admiral Shala'Raan after Chula brought the attack on the geth ship to my attention. She has no direct evidence, but her primary suspects are Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh and Admiral Han'Gerrol vas Neema. Han's involvement in the attack wouldn't surprise me, but it would very much sadden me. He's a longtime friend of my family and he supported me through a very difficult time recently, but he's also been insistent on taking back our homeworld by force and may be hawkish enough to order an attack to provoke a retaliation and use it as an excuse to launch a full assault on Rannoch."

Chula shivered. "He's _got_ to know how dangerous that is."

"I'd certainly hope so, but if he's overconfident enough … who knows?" Tali sighed.

Shepard shook his head slowly. "I'd hate to find out he's responsible for this. I don't agree with him on going to war with the geth, but other than that he seemed like a reasonable guy. And he was there for Tali while most of the Admiralty Board wanted to throw her to the wolves for the sake of their own political pissing contest."

Valeria nodded. "I learned the specifics of the case when my Spectre status was reinstated. I'm relieved you got through that mess unscathed, Ms. vas Normandy."

"Thank you. And it's just 'Tali.'"

"Okay. And Admiral Daro'Xen?"

"She never clamored for war like Han'Gerrol, but she wants to figure out a way to take control of the geth and turn them into an army to serve the quarians. Or, more likely, to serve _her_."

"Admiral Xen sent me a rather disturbing message after that whole mess with the _Alarei_ was cleared up," Shepard added. "She hinted that her ambitions are bigger than just retaking Rannoch. I got the impression that she wants to use the geth to conquer other worlds as well."

"It took only two conversations with her to convince me that she's insane." Tali sighed and gave Shepard's hand a squeeze. "She talked about performing surgery on her toys when she was a child. And that wasn't even the most disturbing thing she said."

"Hmm." Valeria glanced at Chula. "She doesn't sound like she'd be interested in a full-scale war with the geth, though it's possible she'd try to provoke them so she'd have an excuse to conduct experiments on the geth to find a way to control them."

"We recently ran into a Cerberus cell who were trying to control the geth," Shepard said. "It worked out about as well as you'd expect. The project lead and his brother were the only survivors."

"Despite how my people feel about the geth – and how _I_ felt until recently – the geth are a sapient species. Controlling them – _enslaving_ them – would be wrong." Tali finished her drink, stared at the tumbler, and turned the straw slowly. "I didn't learn about this until my conversation with Shala, but Daro'Xen was in on the experiments the crew of the _Alarei_ were conducting on the geth. She wasn't directly involved, but she was 'in the loop,' as the humans say."

"Well, this certainly gives me a good place to start. Thank you." Valeria cocked her head. "I admit I'm a little surprised that you two aren't looking into this yourselves."

"I'm probably too close to it not to let my emotions get in the way," Tali said with another sigh. "Only a few months ago, the Admiralty put me on trial for treason even though I wasn't involved in the experiments being done on the _Alarei_. Experiments that got my father killed. I'm not sure I'd be able to conduct a proper investigation."

"And I wouldn't ask Tali to deal with any of this so soon after the ordeal she went through." Shepard patted the back of Tali's hand. "And I admit I'm not exactly neutral toward them, emotionally. I got a little heated the last time I spoke to them during Tali's trial."

"Which I thought was _really_ sexy." Tali laughed softly, and he grinned.

"I'm not sure I'd trust myself not to start a war of my own." Shepard looked up at Valeria. "I've read your personnel file, and I think you'll do an admirable job. You're one of the few Spectres I've met who is interested in doing what's right, using the proper methods."

"Thank you, Commander. I'll do everything I can to prevent this from erupting into a war."

Chula glanced at Valeria and smiled. "Well, it looks like we may have our next gig lined up already."

#

Trent stared slack-jawed at the vid record. It was his and Siana's first time together, a little over a year ago, but he remembered every moment of it. Being watched by her husband was damned creepy, but the rest of the experience was so incredible that he'd been able to forget Sparatus was there through most of it. Siana had continued seeing him each time he came to the Citadel with his family, but Sparatus hadn't been anywhere near them after that first night.

Judging by how irritated he looked in this video, Trent could guess why. He'd been completely okay with her husband's absence, though – it made the whole thing a little less creepy, even though Sparatus was aware of their meetings. And given the _weird_ shit many politicians had been caught doing over the years, Trent considered himself lucky that this was as kinky as his sessions with Siana had ever gotten.

He pulled his gaze away from the video and raised an eyebrow again. "How did this get recorded?"

"Our apartment is swept for surveillance devices regularly," Siana said, keeping her voice low. "I'm not sure how this one kept getting missed."

"Considering who planted it – or had it planted – I'm not all that surprised." Tevos sighed again and rubbed her free hand over her face. "For all we know, she bugged that apartment five hundred years ago. The device was vastly outdated technology, so I'm thinking that's how the scans kept missing it. We'd never have known it was there if she hadn't finally pulled the trigger on this."

Trent's pulse revved up again. "This is _bad_. If this gets out, most of my clients could be arrested. And once word about it gets around, I won't be able to land any new ones. I won't be able to keep doing this." Well, maybe on Illium and various other worlds in the Terminus Systems, but pressure from outside could make it risky. And he didn't want to have to start over, anyway. His regular clients were good, kind-hearted women whom he enjoyed spending time with. He didn't want them getting into the kind of trouble this would land them in.

"There's no need to worry about that, at least." Tevos managed a hint of a smile. "The person who contacted us about this isn't trying to expose us. She stated flat out that she doesn't really care. She just wanted to coerce me and Sparatus into … changing our stance on a recent issue that has come up. This just happened to be the method she used."

"Once I got my dear husband to spill everything to me," Siana added, "I'm almost thankful this happened. You don't want to know what this is about – you'd never sleep well again, believe me. But this could result in a positive change." She flicked a narrow-eyed glance at Tevos. "Now that I know what's going on, I think that 'change in stance' is exactly what's needed at this point."

Tevos winced, sighed, stared at a spot on the floor, and finally nodded.

"This morning, some serious evidence against my position caught me off guard. It's good to be skeptical, but I think I carried it too far. Even after seeing the evidence, my instant reaction was to brush it off. Maybe the problem Sparatus and I have is we simply didn't want to admit we might be wrong, even to ourselves." She shook her head slowly and flicked her hand toward the still-running video. "Having this dropped on us may have been the exact wake-up call we needed."

_Huh._ "Well, if this really does change things for the better, then … okay. I just hope neither of you catch any more fallout from this."

"As do I." Siana gave his hand a squeeze. "I also hope this doesn't mean we have to stop meeting."

"If we can do it without getting you into any trouble. We'll need to be really careful. But I hope we can." Trent tossed her a lopsided grin. "It's not easy to find women who have the particular taste I service."

Siana chuckled. "I'm really bad at guessing the age of most aliens, so it never even occurred to me at first. I just assumed you were a short human." She glanced away and cleared her throat. "I also don't like to admit it, but it's not easy finding humans who are willing to try it with a turian. I've been with other aliens before, but I wanted to try a human. You were the first one Sparatus and I met who was agreeable to the idea."

"I was?" Trent raised his eyebrow again. "Well, those other guys don't know what they're missing."

"Sweet-talker." She laughed and leaned over to nudge her head gently against his. She started to say something else, but then the video caught her attention. "Oh, that's getting to my favorite part."

The sound had been muted, but the way his and Siana's faces contorted in the video made it very clear what was happening. Trent thrust himself against her one more time, shuddered, and opened his mouth in a silent moan. He and Siana whispered something to each other, he nuzzled and kissed her, and then he continued moving with a wicked grin. Siana's eyes opened wider and her mandibles twitched apart slightly.

_Hah. That sure surprised her._ Thanks to the "boosters" he'd started taking, he had been able to continue making love to her. It was the same thing Irving Kostmeyer had started using while making vids with his wife, and had in fact been developed with funding from _Fornax_, just like the chirality-compatibility medication

After a few more moments, Siana hunched forward, wrapped her arms around him, squeezed her eyes shut, and opened her mouth. She continued convulsing slightly for nearly thirty seconds before finally flopping back on the bed and gasping for breath while Trent leaned over her and stroked her face.

As he watched, Trent grinned at both the vid and the memory. _One of my finest moments, if I do say so myself._

Tevos stared at the image, tugged on her collar, picked up a tablet, and fanned herself with it.

Siana laughed again. "My own husband hasn't been able to give me an orgasm in nearly a decade and a half, but this alien I barely knew made me come so hard, I couldn't even _breathe_."

_Ouch._ Trent tried not to wince.

Tevos continued staring. "So I see."

Siana seemed to realize what she'd just said, and rubbed a hand over her face. "I shouldn't have said that about him. I'm just so frustrated with him right now." She shook her head. "He's not the same man I married. I think the job has changed him. He was once _so_ much warmer, kinder, more caring and compassionate."

"I imagine the stress of being one of the leaders of a huge chunk of the galaxy takes a toll." Trent put his hand on her shoulder.

"It seems to have, yes. There's a part of me that sees the man I love somewhere in him, but most of the time it's pretty hard to find. He seems to always be thinking about the 'bigger picture,' and hardly ever about _me_. But after only a few minutes with you, you made me feel like we'd been in love for a lifetime."

"Aw, thanks." He smiled and clasped her hand.

A soft tone filled the air and both of them glanced at Tevos. She poked at her Omni-Tool, read the notice on its interface, and dismissed it.

"I wish I had time for more, Trent, but I was only able to clear a small space in my schedule today. I wanted to be sure you knew about this so you wouldn't be caught by surprise later, and so you could warn your other clients to take additional precautions. I need to get back to the embassy and set about the business of correcting my and Sparatus's misjudgment of recent events." She gave him a slight smile. "Will you be on the Citadel much longer?"

"My parents are leaving for Illium in the morning, so it'll be a few months before we come back for my uncle's birthday."

"Well, send me the exact date when you can, and I'll be sure to clear a whole afternoon in my schedule, or more if I'm able to. I'm sure I'll be needing your services by then." She glanced at Siana and smiled. "If you both have the time for it, feel free to use this cottage. Just don't forget to lock the door when you leave."

"Well, Siana, if you've already taken the compatibility medication …?"

"I have, indeed." She nodded at the holo-projection. "I wasn't planning on it due to the circumstances, but seeing that vid has put me into the proper mood."

"Me, too. I've got the time if you've got the time."

"I can spare a few hours."

Tevos patted Trent's shoulder and stood. He held her hands for a moment and then put his arms around her. They held each other for at least a full minute. Finally, Tevos took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and released him.

"I needed that. I think I can face the rest of the day now." She kissed him. "Thank you."

"Any time." He smiled, watched her vanish down the hallway to the hidden exit she always used, and turned back to Siana.

She stood, stroked his cheek, and slipped her cloak off. She removed the rest of her clothes slowly, returned to the sofa, and held a hand out to him.

He joined her and grinned. _Damn, I love my job._

#

Lia stepped into the lab and stopped in her tracks when Malcolm turned around and raised a finger to his lips. He smiled and pointed at a desk across the room, where Dr. T'Lura sat. She was slumped forward, her head resting on her crossed arms, snoring ever so softly. Malcolm walked over to Lia and Sidonis and chuckled.

"She was awake for I don't even know how many hours," he whispered. "She tried to resist, she really did, but when she finally fell asleep, everybody thought it was best to let her get the rest she needs." He nodded over his shoulder at the rest of the research team, seated at a bank of consoles, chatting softly and tapping buttons.

Lia nodded. "Yeah, she wouldn't be of much help if she's dozing off while trying to work. So, how goes it?"

"We're just getting started, but we've already got several business partners interested in finding some of those information depositories. Some are thinking of the potential profits to be made, others are thinking about the technological advances we could make by reverse-engineering whatever tech we might find, and a few just think it'd be awesome to explore dead worlds where no one has walked in thousands of years." He grinned and motioned at Dr. T'Lura. "Raena's contacting her most trusted friends and colleagues and trying to talk them into working with her on this. We're hoping she can get a team together right away and get the funding we need to hire your crew to escort them into one of the locations in the Terminus Systems."

"That's good news. I hope we're available when you're ready."

"Might take a few more days. If you're already on another job, that's not a problem, but we'd like to give you the first crack at it because you helped us get the whole thing started."

"Thanks." Lia grinned and clapped him gently on the shoulder. "We really appreciate that. And if you need an extra hand, there's a quarian in Huerta Memorial who could help you out once he's recovered from his wounds."

"Oh yeah, the kid you guys rescued on Omega. I imagine he's handy with computers and gadgets and whatnot?"

"He is. Most quarians are pretty good with tech stuff. He's on his Pilgrimage, but doesn't have the means to continue his journey. I thought you might be able to help each other out."

"Sounds good." Malcolm smiled and activated his Omni-Tool. "If you'll give me his contact info, I'll send him an email and see if he's interested. It could never hurt to have another tech expert, especially one who's not an academic – different point of view, seeing ancient alien technology from a different perspective, and all that. Could actually make all the difference in the world."

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to have an opportunity like this lined up when he's discharged." Lia brought up the comm number for Kenn's room on her Omni-Tool and sent it to Malcolm's.

"Thanks. I'll contact him right away." Malcolm beamed. "It's actually surprising how fast things are falling into place, given how resistant I've heard the Council has been. It's the weirdest thing – all of a sudden, they've begun going out of their way to cooperate. They're putting together expeditions to track down the depositories in their own sections of Citadel space, working with Admiral Hackett to make a joint effort here and there, and Councillor Tevos has even arranged a patrol route for the _Destiny Ascension_ that'll take it to several of the locations listed in the records Benny found." He arched an eyebrow and chuckled. "Though that last one probably has more to do with Captain Lidanya forcing the issue than anything else."

Lia laughed. "Yeah, it was hard to miss the chewing-out she gave Tevos during the meeting. That took a lot of nerve. Or maybe just a lot of frustration."

"I bet it was satisfying, though," Sidonis said.

Malcolm nodded emphatically. "It's not every day you get to verbally unload on one of the leaders of the galaxy in front of a room full of people and get away with it."

"Yeah." Lia took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's good to see things working out, for a change."

"It certainly is." Sidonis took a slow look around the lab and sighed. "I wonder how long it'll last."

"Probably not long." Lia chuckled and gave his shoulder a light whap. "But I'll take whatever hope I can get."

"I couldn't agree more." Malcolm smiled and motioned at one of the consoles on his left. "I'll write up a message for Kenn and let you know as soon as we find out anything about the expedition."

"Thanks. We'll see you soon, then." Lia turned to the door and grinned at Sidonis. "Let's meet up with the rest of the crew and see what kind of trouble we can get into next."


	25. Chapter 25

"_You are not Saren."_

Valeria shivered at the sound of the deep, booming, mechanical voice as she stared at the recording on the screen on the lounge's far wall. The archive entry was one she'd gained access to after her reinstatement to Special Tactics and Reconnaissance – Commander Shepard, Garrus Vakarian, and Tali'Zorah standing in front of a Prothean beacon. The beacon was gone now, along with the cloning facility in which it had been stored, the whole place vaporized by a nuke. It had been one of Saren's bases, a lab he'd used for studying the process that had come to be called "indoctrination," as well as growing an army of krogan clones.

Before Shepard had destroyed the base, he'd triggered the beacon and received another infodump directly into his brain, which had eventually helped him piece together what Saren was doing and where to find him.

And then, seconds after the download finished, a communications array had activated – and in front of the beacon, a red-tinted, holographic image of a vaguely squid-shaped machine had appeared, towering over the human, quarian, and turian standing barely two meters away.

"_What is that?"_ Garrus stared at the projection, his mandibles twitching slightly. _"Some kind of VI interface?"_

"_Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh,"_ the chilling voice continued, _"you touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding."_

The door to her left slid open and Valeria glanced over as the _Sulaco_'s crew filed in. Everyone had been ready to depart except Chula, who had made a quick run to Dr. Michel's clinic to pick up a prescription. While waiting for Chula to return, Val had decided to review what information she had about Shepard's mission two years ago. Despite the Council's insistence that the Reapers were merely a myth and Saren had acted on his own when attacking the Citadel, there _had_ been some good chunks of evidence to back up Shepard's claims.

One of which was this very recording. Fortunately, he and his two teammates had the presence of mind to start recording with their Omni-Tools the moment the holographic image appeared.

"_I don't think this is a VI,"_ Garrus muttered.

Val paused the playback, waved at the others, and turned to her husband. "Hi, Irv."

"Hey, honey." He sat beside her and each of them slipped an arm around the other's shoulders.

"Chula's on her way back," Dakka said. She plopped onto a chair, grasped Quint's hand, and pulled him onto her lap. She put her arms around him and he grinned. "She should be here in a few minutes."

"Okay. I was just going over some files on the assault on the Citadel two years ago. It's not really relevant to our next job, but the way things are going, we'll need to know this stuff sooner or later." Valeria nodded at the screen. "This is from a short time before the attack, when Shepard tracked Saren down on Virmire."

"I've heard bits and pieces about that," Magnum said. "It'll be nice to see a record that hasn't been heavily redacted."

"I'll send copies of everything to each of your Omni-Tools, plus everything Dr. T'Lura's team has found so far." Val resumed the playback.

"_There is a realm of existence so far beyond your own, you cannot even imagine it,"_ the low, grating voice continued. _"I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."_

Shepard's eyes opened wider. _"Sovereign isn't just some Reaper ship Saren found. It's an actual Reaper!"_

"_Reaper? A label created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. In the end, what they chose to call us is irrelevant. We simply … _are_."_

Val shook her head slowly. _Gotta give all three of them credit for holding it together as well as they did._ She tried to imagine herself facing that almost-monotonous, cold, powerful, arrogant voice, and doubted she wouldn't have given in either to fear or anger at its sheer implacability.

"_The Protheans vanished over fifty thousand years ago,"_ Garrus said. _"You couldn't have been there. It's impossible."_

"_Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation,"_ Sovereign replied coldly. _"An accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die. We are eternal, the pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything."_

In the corner of Val's eye, General Kurakova raised an eyebrow, hunched forward, and propped her chin on her left hand. Beside Val, Irving shivered. She reached over with her free hand and rested it on top of his.

"_Whatever your plan is,"_ Shepard said, glaring up at Sovereign's image, _"it's going to fail. I'll make sure of that."_

"_Confidence born of ignorance. The cycle cannot be broken."_

"_Cycle?"_ Tali's glowing eyes widened slightly. _"What cycle?"_

"_The pattern has repeated itself more times than you can fathom. Organic civilizations rise, evolve, advance, and at the apex of their glory they are extinguished. The Protheans were not the first. They did not create the Citadel. They did not forge the mass relays. They merely found them – the legacy of _my_ kind."_

Everyone else exchanged startled glances.

In the recording, Shepard scowled and shook his head. _"Why would you construct the mass relays and leave them for someone else to find?"_

"_Your civilization is based on the technology of the mass relays. _Our_ technology. By using it, your civilization develops along the paths we desire. We impose order on the chaos of organic life. You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it."_

"Shit," Quint whispered.

"_They're _harvesting_ us!"_ Tali glanced at the other two. _"Letting us advance to the level they need, then wiping us out!"_

"_What do you want from us?"_ Shepard glared up at Sovereign. _"Slaves? Resources?"_

"_My kind transcends your very understanding. We are each a nation – independent, free of all weakness. You cannot grasp the nature of our existence."_

"_Where do you come from? Who built you?"_

"_We have no beginning. We have no end. We are infinite. Millions of years after your civilization has been eradicated and forgotten, we will endure."_

Shepard flicked an unsettled glance at the others before regaining his composure. _"Where are the rest of the Reapers? Are you the last of your kind?"_

"_We are legion. The time of our return is coming. Our numbers will darken the sky of every world. You cannot escape your doom."_

Lia crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

Shepard sneered up at the Reaper's image. _"You're not even alive! Not really. You're just a machine – and machines can be broken."_

"_Your words are as empty as your future. I am the vanguard of your destruction. This exchange is over."_

Sovereign's image faded away. Seconds later, the roar of a ship's engines rattled the whole building, the volume increasing until it reached a crescendo – and then every window in the room exploded inward. Shepard, Garrus, and Tali ducked and threw their arms up over their faces. The sound faded gradually and they stood up straight and glanced around.

Valeria stopped the playback and took a slow breath.

"Well," Chula said from the doorway, "that's enough nightmare fuel to last at least a couple of lifetimes."

Val nodded. She'd been so distracted by the video, she hadn't noticed the door opening again.

"Not really," the general said as she leaned back in her chair. She turned to Val and added, "As I said before we left C-Sec headquarters, the Reapers aren't indestructible. Sovereign _was_ taken down two years ago."

"It was a costly victory, though." Lia rubbed her upper arms, as if feeling a chill even though her envirosuit kept her body temperature regulated. "For months after the battle, it was almost all I saw on the news. The Systems Alliance fleet alone lost eight ships, and I don't even remember how many the Citadel fleet lost. Thousands of lives."

"And if the _Destiny Ascension_ had been taken out as well, we'd have to add the ten thousand crew members _and_ the Council to the body count, as well." Valeria let a quick breath rush out. "And that would've just been the beginning of a galaxy-wide extinction event."

"Here's the thing, though." Kurakova took a few seconds to make eye contact with everyone. "You could hear the arrogance in Sovereign's voice, and that's probably the main reason he ended up blown to hell. He honestly believed he couldn't even be scratched by our weapons."

"That's a good point, Nana. It's likely the other Reapers – however many there are – have the same arrogance, which might make them careless."

"Not only that, but if they truly _were_ invulnerable, they wouldn't need to use scare tactics like all the bloviating we heard in that recording, or monstrosities like the husks you encountered on Chasca. If they were unstoppable, they'd just trample everything in their path from one side of the galaxy to the other. But instead, they deploy Dragon's Teeth that turn people into husks and other devices that indoctrinate people to turn them against us. Those are all very small-scale compared to the attack on the Citadel, or what the Collectors were planning to do – but those tactics _do_ have demoralizing and disrupting effects."

"Which wouldn't be necessary unless the Reapers weren't as powerful as Sovereign claimed they were," Dakka said. Then she shrugged. "Assuming the Reapers don't do all that stuff just because they get a kick out of it."

"Well, _that's_ not a disturbing thought." Quint sighed. "No, not at all."

"Sorry, babe." She winked. "If this stuff keeps you up tonight, I'll do what I can to wear you out."

"Hmm, I might just have to take you up on that offer." He grinned.

Valeria chuckled. "Like I said, I'll send you all the info I have on the Reapers, but we can go over it some other time. A little of this goes a long way."

"Does it ever," Irving muttered. He chuckled, but it sounded forced.

Val nuzzled him before glancing over at Chula. "What's our status?"

"The supplies you ordered are aboard and stored away. We've finished up our business here and the crew's all aboard. Malcolm and Dr. T'Lura have promised to keep us updated regularly on their progress." Chula laughed softly. "And I've picked up all the immuno-boosters and other meds I could get my hands on, plus my own prescription for that dextro-levo compatibility medication you and Irving use, just in case I get lucky sometime soon. So, we're good to go."

"Glad to hear it. Though I hope I'm not imposing by asking you to ferry me around."

"We had no previous engagements," Weyland said.

Lia flicked a quick glance at him and Yutani. Her apprehension was understandable, given the history her people and the geth shared. And with the mysterious attack on the geth supply ship by a quarian crew added to it, as well as the fact that the quarians' governing bodies weren't aware of the geth's willingness to coexist … the upcoming mission would likely be a delicate situation at best.

But it had to be done before things escalated beyond the point where they could be reigned in. Weyland and Yutani hadn't informed the rest of the geth of the attack yet, but if the incident were repeated, they'd only hold themselves back for so long before retaliating.

"Thank you," Val said. "Well, I guess we should be on our way, then."

Chula nodded. "I'll head up to the cockpit, then. Next stop – the Migrant Fleet."

* * *

><p>"We're under way," Chula said as she returned to the lounge. "We'll reach the relay in a few hours and meet up with the Flotilla a couple of hours after that." She plopped onto the sofa and glanced around. Everyone was present except the two geth units – busy packing away the supplies delivered before the <em>Sulaco<em> launched – and Valeria and Irving. "Val and Irv head back to their quarters again?"

"Yep." Dakka grinned.

"I know they were porn stars until recently," Lia muttered, "but they have a _lot_ of sex."

"It's something Irving started taking when _Fornax_ hired him. I forget the medical name, but it's commonly referred to as 'boosters.' It was developed with funding from _Fornax,_ same as the dextro-levo stuff Chula picked up. It increases semen production so the user can, um, perform a lot more often."

Magnum chuckled. "I read about that stuff a while back. Guys who use it kind of _have_ to ejaculate five or six times every day, or it causes some unpleasant side effects. From, uh, buildup, I guess."

"What, like blue-balls?" Quint grimaced.

"I dunno. Probably something like that. I never looked too deeply into it."

"So," Dakka said, "if Val isn't there to help him out, he has to take care of it himself. Not that she seems to mind. She said it's a bonus for her as much as it is for him."

Kurakova cleared her throat. "I really don't need to hear about my grandson having sex, thank you very much."

"Oops." Dakka giggled. "Sorry. Wasn't thinking."

"No worries." Kurakova chuckled and prodded her Omni-Tool. The screen on the wall came to life and a list of archived recordings blipped up. She turned to face the screen, selected one of the entries near the middle of the list, and sipped from her tumbler as the playback began.

_The Citadel battle._ Chula remembered it all too well. As Lia had said, it had been just about all that was on any given vid channel after the attack. The record currently playing had been pieced together from dozens of cameras installed on the Citadel and the ships involved in the battle, many of which had been destroyed before they could capture more than a few seconds of footage.

The on-screen image changed from the fleet of onrushing, insect-like geth ships to the squid-shaped Sovereign plowing through the Citadel fleet. The Reaper smashed head-on into a trio of turian cruisers – ripping them apart, knocking the debris aside, and continuing on toward the Citadel as if it hadn't even noticed the ships at all.

Lia, sitting on the chair to Chula's right, shivered and crossed her arms over her chest.

Kurakova skipped to the next file. This one had been recorded after the Citadel's five arms had closed, sealing the station's inner surfaces off from the battle outside _after_ Sovereign had already made its way inside. The Reaper closed in on the tower rising from the Presidium ring, extended its "legs" and clamped on. Flexible tubes stretched from Sovereign and connected to ports set into the tower's walls.

The general paused the video and pointed at it. "According to Shepard and his team, the Citadel was built by the Reapers, not the Protheans, and that business with the cables linking up supports it. Those connections appear to have been built for the exact purpose we're looking at right now."

Chula nodded. "I've been skimming the reports. That thing used Saren and his army to secure the Citadel, then it locked everything down. Shepard had to lead a team along the outside wall of the tower to get to the Council chambers, where the control center was located."

Lia shuddered again. "That was how the Reapers invaded every fifty thousand years. One of them would arrive first, lock everyone else out, take over the entire mass relay network, and open the floodgates for the rest of the Reapers. Then, every advanced civilization in the galaxy was wiped out over the next few centuries."

_Given the long life spans of asari and krogan, that means some of them probably lived long enough to see everyone they loved exterminated._ Chula shook her head slowly. _And it would've happened again, if Shepard and his crew hadn't gotten to the Citadel in time to stop it._

Kurakova skipped to the next record. This one started moments after Shepard's team reached the control center, killed Saren, and opened the Citadel's arms to let the Alliance fleet in.

Over the next few minutes, the fleet attacked Sovereign, but none of the hits could penetrate the Reaper's kinetic barriers. A few more minutes passed, and Sovereign returned fire for the first time since the battle started – slicing a nearby Alliance ship in half with an intense beam.

Sovereign continued firing, destroying one ship after another.

Kurakova paused it. "That's the weapon the Thanix cannon is based on. A stream of liquid metal fired at a fraction of the speed of light. Alliance ships are being upgraded with the new guns, as are turian and asari ships, but it's not happening fast enough. If there are any more Reapers in the galaxy, on 'standby' like Sovereign was, then one of them could hit us at any moment."

_Yeah … enough nightmare fuel for three or four lifetimes._ Chula propped her boots on the coffee table and nudged her hat into a slightly different angle.

Kurakova resumed the playback and the slaughter continued.

Until something odd happened. Sovereign suddenly stopped firing, detached from the tower, and drifted away, hanging limp in space. A few seconds passed, and then the remnants of the fleet attacked with renewed ferocity.

"Whatever happened to it," Lia muttered, "it knocked Sovereign's shields out."

Shots from the ships' main cannons continued unimpeded to Sovereign's hull and blasted small chunks out of it.

The SSV _Normandy_ passed by the camera and raced toward the far end of the Citadel. Then it rotated to face the Reaper and pushed its engines to maximum burn. The small ship surged straight toward the still-limp Reaper and fired one last shot. The projectile punched straight through Sovereign and secondary explosions began tearing it apart from the inside.

The Reaper finally burst into hundreds of pieces. A huge amount of the debris plowed into Tayseri Ward, resulting in damage that was still being cleaned up and repaired two years later.

A large chunk of Sovereign tumbled toward the Council tower and smashed into it, very nearly killing Shepard and his team.

"Ah-hah," the general muttered. "A Reaper's shields can handle just about any kind of attack – but drop 'em and it's as vulnerable as any of our ships. The _Normandy_ killed that thing with a single shot."

"Yeah." Chula nodded slowly. "Not nearly as tough as they want us to think they are – just like you said."

"That's more like it." Quint sighed and glanced at the time display in his Omni-Tool interface. "Got a couple more hours to pass before we reach the relay." He slid his hand along Dakka's thigh. "Your quarters or mine?"

"Yours are closer." Grinning, she hopped to her feet, grabbed Quint's hand, and towed him out the door. He tossed a shit-eating grin over his shoulder an instant before the door slid shut behind him.

Chula burst out laughing. "Nothing like seeing how close to dying we all were to crank the ol' libido up, huh?"

* * *

><p>Valeria flopped onto her back and gasped for breath. Once she'd regained her composure, she rolled over and draped an arm across Irving's chest.<p>

"Holy _shit_," she finally whispered before bursting into laughter. "Now that was some pent-up passion."

"Sometimes I think the boosters work a little _too_ well." He grinned and slid his hand slowly up her arm. "That and the records we saw of the Reaper. Guess it scared me enough to trigger my 'carpe diem' mode."

"It worked out pretty well, then." She winked. "Still, try not to let it worry you. Like Nana said, those things aren't invulnerable. All we have to do is find a way to disable their shields and our ships can rip them apart. At least, the ones with the new Thanix cannons."

He nodded. "Even so, remember what Sovereign said about their numbers darkening the sky of every world. If there really are that many Reapers … I'm hoping the next invasion doesn't happen in our lifetime."

"I can certainly understand that." She sighed. "But that'll just make the Reapers someone else's problem after we're gone. We've been lucky enough to get our hands on a lot of information about them, and that'll give us a fighting chance. That data could be lost between now and whenever they attack next, and _trillions_ of people could die in every fifty-thousand-year cycle, for who knows how many cycles afterward." She shook her head. "I'd love it if we could live out the rest of our lives in peace. But there's a part of me that wants to fight the Reapers – and stop them before they can wipe out any more civilizations. I couldn't even look at myself in a mirror if I had a shot at them and didn't take it, and countless innocents paid for it later."

Irving propped himself up on his elbow, reached over to stroke her mandible, and smiled. "I know you never wanted to go back into the Spectres, but what you just said proves you belong there. You're in it to protect innocent people, not just maintain the status quo. With Spectres like you and Shepard, the Reapers don't have a chance."

"Hah. Flatterer."

"Just being honest." He grinned. "Being married to one of the biggest badasses in the galaxy is _such_ a turn-on."

She laughed. "And all along I thought you married me for my bubbly personality."

"Well, that's one of the first things that caught my interest, back before I even knew you were one of the galaxy's elite." He grinned and leaned over to nuzzle her forehead. "I also married you because you're hot. And because you're one of the few genuinely kindhearted people I've ever met. And because you're an _amazing_ lay."

She burst out laughing. "Well, I'm glad to know I have a few other talents aside from kicking people's asses."

"Oh, a _lot_ more, yeah." He kissed her. "Have I told you lately how much I love you?"

"Fairly often, but I won't complain if you keep it up."

He brushed his lips over her neck and she shivered. "Ready for round three?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Or would it be _four_?"

"I lost count." Valeria laughed softly. "I'll take as much as you can dish out."

"Oh, ho, ho. Now it's _on_." He grinned and slid on top of her. She giggled.

The comm panel beeped. Both of them froze and then sighed in unison.

_You're kidding. Now, of all times?_ She reached over and tapped the glowing button. Chula's face appeared in the holofield.

"Oh. Sorry, guys. Guess I should've assumed you'd still be at it." Chula winked.

"Hah. Your timing could've been worse. We just finished, but in a few more seconds we would've been … busy. What's up?"

"We're approaching the Flotilla. We'll arrive in about an hour."

_Just enough time to shower, put my armor back on, and get myself into the proper headspace for dealing with insular politicians. Whee._ "Thanks. I'll meet you in the cockpit shortly."

Chula nodded and her face faded out. Val sighed and cocked her head at Irving.

"You gonna be okay for now?"

"Should be good for the rest of the day." He smirked. "Can't promise I won't need to wake up for a quick wank in the middle of the night, but …"

She laughed and gave his ass a light swat before she heaved herself off the bed. "If the politicians on the Admiralty Board or the Conclave start driving me nuts, I can always use your boosters as an excuse to get away from them for an hour or two."

"Sounds like a plan. If you can't deal with it anymore, just shoot me a quick text message and I'll call you and demand sex."

She laughed. "Will do." She leaned over to run her talons through his hair before stepping into the bathroom. _The rest of today should be … interesting._

* * *

><p>"About half an hour left." Chula tilted her seat back, propped her boots on the console, and held her hands lightly around her mug of dextro cocoa. She'd dimmed the lights in the cockpit a while ago so she could take in the view out the main window. "The Fleet arrived at Dranen recently and are discharging their drive cores."<p>

Valeria nodded as she and Irving took vacant seats to her left. Irving stared out the window and smiled.

"Ah, there it is. Kinda pretty."

"Sure is." Chula inserted the straw through her helmet's intake membrane and sipped her cocoa. Dranen, the third planet in the Aysur system in the Caleston Rift, was a green gas giant streaked with bands of darker green and several cyclonic and anticyclonic storms that had lasted for more than five centuries. Pretty, as Irving had said, but nasty. One of those storms had a diameter of more than three times that of Earth.

"The Council has an interest in a couple of its moons, if I remember correctly," Valeria said as Dranen grew slowly larger in the window.

"Yep. Alahya is being engineered into an ammonia-based world for the volus, and Arvuna has several human colonies. Plus, the humans and the volus have multiple interests in the rest of the Caleston Rift, despite steady raids by pirates here and throughout the whole Attican Traverse. The Council doesn't want to risk an all-out war with the Terminus Systems, so they don't get their military involved, but they're happy to let the humans set up colonies since their military can handle it without the Council getting their hands dirty."

"Yeah. Politics." Valeria sighed. "The Migrant Fleet's arrival here, taking up so much time coming through the mass relay and preventing other traffic from coming or going, probably set a lot of people's nerves on edge." She chuckled. "Some people would accuse the quarian leadership of doing it deliberately."

"And I'd be one of those people." Chula shrugged and laughed softly. "My people aren't above using shady tactics to get their hands on resources. They've been in a precarious situation for the last three hundred years, so they do what they have to do to survive. Sometimes local governments offer them bribes to pass a star cluster by and not tie up the relay for days at a time. Stuff like that."

"Honestly, I don't blame them at all for poking the rest of the galaxy with a stick every now and then, given the way the Council has treated your people over the centuries. Treating you like pariahs because of something that happened centuries before any of you were born. Like we've discussed before, it doesn't sit too well with me."

"Yeah. The problem with the Conclave and the Admiralty Board is that their focus is too narrow. After young quarians return from Pilgrimage, most of them spend the rest of their lives in the Fleet. They remain isolated from the rest of the galaxy and gradually forget everything they learned during their Pilgrimage, yet they still think they know everything they need to know." Chula shivered. "But _we_ know there's a bigger picture. If the various species in the galaxy don't stop antagonizing each other and learn to work together, we won't be able to stand up to the Reapers."

"Hey, guys," Dakka said from behind her, and all three of them jumped slightly. Chula glanced over her shoulder and found Dakka squeezing through the doorway, followed by Quint. They took a pair of seats across from Val and Irv.

"Holy shit," Irving muttered, holding a hand to his chest. "No offense, but how can someone your size sneak up on anyone, let alone a _Spectre_?"

"Lots of practice." Dakka laughed. "Most krogan have a pretty limited fighting style. Doesn't take much for an enemy to learn their moves. So I've spent years learning every style I could _except_ krogan. Including stealth tactics."

"Sorry she startled you, though." Quint fired off a lopsided grin. "I suspect you're worked up enough about meeting with the quarian leadership."

"Eh. I admit I'm kind of dreading it just because they're politicians – I'm fully expecting to lose a bit of my sanity over the next few days. And it's going to be kind of awkward because of the questions I'll have to ask them. But it's still better than being shot at."

"Hah. I wouldn't be too sure about that." Chula grinned and faced forward again. The _Sulaco_ had moved close enough to Dranen for several of its moons to enter visual range, as well as what appeared to be an immense, glittering cloud – actually the viewports and running lights on the fifty thousand ships comprising the Migrant Fleet. "Just from what little I've heard about how the Admiralty treated Tali'Zorah, I'm not looking forward to meeting them."

"There's not much to worry about beyond a few heated words." Val winked at her. "Arriving with a Council Spectre does have its advantages."

"But since my people aren't really part of galactic society, they won't have to recognize your authority if it becomes inconvenient for them." Chula turned and met Valeria's gaze. "Just be careful while you're there."

"I will." Valeria stared out the window. "I don't like to rely on my reputation, but if the admirals looked up my service record, they'll know better than to try anything."

"They don't even need to go back that far." Irving grinned. "There's plenty of evidence of my wife's badass nature from the two years we made porn vids for _Fornax_."

"Oh." Dakka rubbed her hands together and leaned forward. "Such as?"

"The stalker." Irving glanced at Val and she glanced at the floor.

"Heh. Yeah. The stalker." She looked up at Dakka. "It happened a little while after Irv and I got together and started making vids and doing photo shoots. Around the time we started seeing each other outside of work, too. There was this turian who absolutely _hated_ humans – he'd lost most of his family in the First Contact War, and blamed the entire species instead of the individuals who killed them. Anyway, to him, one of us mating with one of them was the worst thing in the universe. He was constantly sending emails to _Fornax_ going into detail about why everything they did was wrong, weaseled his way into interviews just to bitch about us, staged protests during some of our vid and photo shoots, and so on."

Irving nodded. "It was bad enough that we were doing it just to earn money and entertain people – but when things got serious between us, it was more than he could handle. I think what set him off was the moment we officially became a couple. It happened while we were shooting one of our vids."

Val laughed softly and held his hand. "We'd just finished having sex and were holding each other and catching our breath. Irv gazed into my eyes and blurted, 'I love you!'"

"I had no idea I was about to just announce it like that. It crossed my mind, but for a few seconds I didn't think I'd actually _said_ it. But Val froze and stared back at me, and that's when it hit me."

"I stared for a few seconds, looked into his eyes, and I could see that he _meant_ it. And that's when I realized I felt the same way about him. So I whispered, 'I love you,' and nuzzled him. And the whole thing ended up in the finished vid. I guess the stalker saw it and popped all of his rivets."

"If I find out I don't like a certain type of vid, I just stop watching them and move on to something I actually enjoy. But this was one of those people who decides that everyone else has to hate the same things he hates, and kept watching our vids just so he could have something to froth at the mouth over."

"He hunted us down while we were prepping for our next vid and a round of interviews. Irv and I returned to our hotel room on the Citadel after lunch and found him waiting for us with a huge knife."

Dakka's jaw dropped. "Oh, _shit_."

Irving laughed. "Before that day, I didn't know Val used to be a Spectre and had no idea she was such a badass. The stalker didn't, either, apparently. He rushed her as soon as we stepped through the door. Guess he expected her to scream and cringe. Instead, she charged him, laid some moves on him so fast I couldn't even see exactly what she did – and the next thing I knew, the guy was on the floor with a broken arm, snapped leg, and his own knife lodged in his spine. Luckily, the door was still open, and several people in the hallway saw the whole thing, so Val didn't take any heat for it."

Val glanced away and coughed. "Um … yeah. It wasn't that long after my last assignment as a Spectre, so I hadn't had time to get rusty. And, honestly, I was afraid I'd just scared Irving off."

He snorted. "Come on. That was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen, up to that point in my life." He glanced at Dakka and grinned. "Later that night, I asked Val to marry me."

"And here we are." Val leaned over to nudge her forehead against his.

Dakka squeed. "That is _so_ hot!"

Valeria laughed, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Well, this took my mind off the dread of meeting the Admiralty."

"Excellent." Chula glanced out the window again. The _Sulaco_ was now close enough to the Flotilla for her to make out individual ships. "Not to kill the good mood, but we'll be there in a few more minutes."

Val nodded, stood, and tugged on her armor to make sure it was straight. She gazed at the Fleet as the _Sulaco_ continued its approach, and took another slow breath.

"Well, this should be _fun_."


End file.
